THERE AREN’T many perfect days in the world. Last weekend had two of them.
OK, maybe they weren’t perfect perfect. I did have to work, after all. And one of the stories I had to work on involved sick pets, not the happiest theme in the world.
But the day itself couldn’t have been better. Blue skies. Comfortable temperature. Just a hint of breeze. All that was missing was for a cowboy to step on stage and sing “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’...”
Best of all, the surprise lilies are coming up again.
I never planted the surprise lilies. I never even heard of them before moving to Emporia. But about a month after we moved in, there they were on the side of the house, bright green shoots about to produce light pink flowers.
They’re called surprise lilies or resurrection lilies because they can’t help coming back for an encore. Every spring, regular as clockwork, they send up green shoots and then vanish without a bud. But just six months later, just when you least expect them, up they pop again, full of blooms and beauty.
They’re a plant of second chances. And I have to admire that. After all, who couldn’t use a second chance every now and then?
That’s something my wife Heather understands especially well.
For the newcomers in the audience, Heather has beautiful looks, a sweet nature, and a list of chronic illnesses as long as your arm. She’s had to struggle with one condition or another since she was a girl, which may go a long way toward explaining her tough-mindedness.
But at the age of 15, Heather’s health nearly brought an end to her school career.
She had been diagnosed with lupus not long before, after missing a number of school days due to sickness. How many? Too many. Despite all the doctor’s notes and good explanations, the powers that be at Longmont High School decided to invite her to leave.
They told her she’d missed too much class. They told her she had no chance of graduating. She told them -- in her mind, anyway -- to go take a hike and enrolled at Olde Columbine.
Not to be confused with Columbine High School where the shootings took place, Olde Columbine is a “second chance” or even a “last chance” alternative high school in Longmont, Colo. People go there for a number of reasons -- expulsion, pregnancy, or even just a mindset that doesn’t work in a traditional high school setting. It’s every bit as rigorous academically, but a lot more open structurally.
Heather went there and excelled. In fact, she did so well that she could have graduated a year early if she’d wanted to.
Her second chance had become solid gold.
It’s a favorite story of Heather’s and rightfully so. But there’s an element in it that I don’t want to overlook. Yes, she got a second chance to prove herself. But for her to get that chance, someone else had to give it..
Obvious? Maybe. But it’s amazing how often we forget it. We all love the underdog who succeeds, but most of us fail to realize that we can create that success for someone else. We can be the ones who adopt the rescue animal, or who tutors the student in trouble, or who has a kind word and a hand up for the person who’s just had the world crash around their ears.
We can all be someone’s second chance if we just take the time. Someone has to be.
After all, surprise lilies don’t plant themselves. But once the seed is there, the rewards sprout up at the oddest times.
Scott Rochat’s e-mail address is rochat@emporiagazette.com.