The Last Bluebonnet Photo

So in Texas, it is a tradition with most families to take photos of their kids in the bluebonnets each spring….or maybe their dog…or horse…or maybe the whole family. I saw a lot of that while I was down there. There is certain bluebonnet etiquette you should follow…including to not trample on them or pick them. They aren’t easy to grow and like to grow wild. You can plant a hundred seeds in your own yard and may or may not get 5-6 plants over the next couple of years. The fields that have been developed have done so over many years. Their blooms last about 2 weeks. I was ever so lucky to have hit a late season this year as they can start as early as late February. The dry winter helped me manage to hit the peak season in mid-April. They are already starting to fade. Since I was the one with the camera and travelling alone, I didn’t get a picture of ME in the bluebonnets. So on my way home, in Ennis, TX (the home of the Bluebonnet festival), I asked a random stranger to take my photo on my phone in the field of bluebonnets. This woman was near my age and she saw my necklace (a firefighter’s badge) and immediately asked me if I was married to a fireman…my eyes misted over immediately as I looked up at her and told her it was in honor of my son, Joe, who had died 5 weeks prior. As I looked into her face, trying to control my emotions, I noticed she was also wearing a necklace with a badge on it…that of a policeman. Her husband is a policeman. She took a couple of photos of me and then as I stood up, she asked if she could hug me. She did and the dams were let loose and here I was in Ennis, TX, sobbing in this woman’s arms. She explained that she had lost a daughter at birth 30 years ago and her heart still hurt over it. She said she couldn’t imagine having a child for 27 years and then having them ripped away from you. She then stood there with me, in the middle of the bluebonnet field with her arm around my shoulders, and prayed aloud for me and for Joe and our family. It was such a wonderful experience. Sometimes you meet angels in the guise of a stranger…in a bluebonnet field in Ennis, TX.