“Stunning” –
“No, stinging – well both,” she added to soften her observation of the beautiful but prickly array of cactus flowers that adorned their upward path.
Chenea knew that Dan loved his Arizona cactus flowers and didn’t mean to put them down by adding the obvious truth that they stung you if you tried to get near them. How Chenea longed for her field of daffodils in northwestern Connecticut, just beautifully spreading and softly inviting you to sit and inhale the fragrance now that it was mid-May.
Dan loved the contrast between the hot red rock and the cool icicle prickly pear cactus, and that wasn’t all that he adored about Arizona. Chenea wanted to convince him that this was a special time in Connecticut and she wanted to go there in the worst way. Not just for the daffodils and spring green grass, but to be there for her brother Taylor’s wedding.
“You know, Chenea, you remind me of these beautiful cactus flowers.”
“Oh, this is new, ” Chenea thought to herself. “How so?” she asked gingerly.
“Well, no matter which way I look at them, they are uniquely beautiful!”
“Oh, great, now he’s being really sweet,” Chenea thought and I want to push him to go to Connecticut.
Dan really did admire her caramel skin and native American thick black hair which glistened in the Arizona sun like black diamonds. He was cowboy Dan with rust-red hair, freckles, lanky frame and bright blue eyes.
Chenea reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him towards her. “You know, Dan, I still can’t believe you fell in love with a Connecticut Indian when you have so many here in Arizona. Why am I so different?”
“I wouldn’t care if you came from Saturn – you are my girl and I can’t believe my good fortune that you came out here to Tucson to go to school. I never would have met you if you hadn’t made that decision.”
“Dan, we have to talk. School is out until late August and I really need to get back to Connecticut for Taylor’s wedding in June. Will you come with me, please? I want you to meet my family too and see our beautiful flowers and plants.”
Dan was studying to be an herbalist as was Chenea and they genuinely loved the Earth and her gifts and all plants and flowers were of great interest to them. “I really need to take another course this summer, Chenea. The sooner I graduate, the sooner we can make bigger plans for our future.”
“I want that, Dan. You know I do, but couldn’t you take that herbal workshop at Wheaton in Massachusetts. Didn’t Professor Barden say that would count as two credits? Wheaton College is just over the border of Connecticut and we could use one of the family’s cars while we were there. Didn’t Professor Barden say it was a three day workshop. We just would need to go up on a Thursday and come home on a Sunday. It would introduce you to our plants in the Northeast too. Oh, please Dan, can’t we do this,” Chenea pleaded.
“I’ll go online today and see what the logistics are,” Dan said. “I know it is really important for you to be at your brother’s wedding and this might work.”
Chenea hugged him so tightly he gasped for air.
The workshop was the 7th, 8th, and 9th of June. Taylor and Sue Ann’s wedding was the 16th of June, so all was well there. It was decided. They would arrive home the 26th of May, spend time with Chenea’s family and then go up to the College.
Dan and Chenea’s family fit together as if they had known each other forever. That was the same experience that Chenea had when she first met Dan-that they knew each other from somewhere, sometime, they both felt it.
Taylor and Dan hit it off too and that really pleased Chenea because her brother meant so much to her. Sue Ann was Taylor’s childhood sweetheart, but Chenea thought she lacked substance and worldliness that she would have liked for her “country-boy” brother. Chenea was always looking for bigger and better opportunities and wished her brother wanted more than just to settle down, work on the farm and raise kids.
Dan was pleasantly surprised to find out how big the farm was and the beauty of the verdant hills and lush, cool green grass. He thought Connecticut was so tiny it would just be crowds of people trying to make a living on little squares of land. The soil was as black as Chenea’s hair and the moistness in the cool sunrises were pleasant surprises for Dan. Yes, he could see why Chenea loved Connecticut, but he missed the warm red rocks and bright yellow cactus flowers. The two states seemed to be planets apart as far as landscape was concerned. And viva la difference as far as Dan was concerned. What a great opportunity to learn and meet more of Mother Earth’s creations.
Dan knew by the end of this trip that he would propose to Chenea. He was graduating this coming January but she would need to complete another year and a half in Tucson. Time enough for him to save up to buy a storefront and begin creating herbal medicine. Chenea wanted that as well and was really good at plant identification and had an excellent memory. They knew they would work well together and be successful.
Sue Ann became Chenea’s sister in a beautiful, simple ceremony. Sue Ann was as light as Taylor was dark and they complemented each other and obviously loved each other deeply. Chenea’s mother was a wonderful chef and so many of the family came together as they always do for celebrations to help Mama prepare the feast. Dan genuinely enjoyed the whole thing and that pleased Chenea in a way she found new and exciting. Dan was going to be a part of this family too and Chenea saw into the future. Even her attitude towards Sue Ann was softening – either Sue Ann was maturing or Chenea was – and maybe both.
Too soon it was time to return to Arizona. The good part was that Dan now loved Connecticut and her family too and she knew she would be back often. She didn’t think he would like January or February winters but truthfully, either did she!
Taylor and Sue Ann had already left for their honeymoon at the Vermont cabin when Mama came in to Chenea’s room with a package.
Mama was still a beautiful Native American woman but never remarried after Dad died of lung cancer five years ago, filling her life with things of the farm and her children. She instinctively knew plants and moon phases and loved Mother Earth deeply, imparting her care and concern for our planet to her children. She knew flowers and symbols and read volumes of books related to precious Earth life.
“Hi, Mama,” Chenea said, “what do you have there?”
“Chenea, I know you will marry Dan one day – I saw it in a vision. I’m sure you are torn for wanting to be in your beloved Connecticut, but you should follow him and love each other,” Mama said softly, reaching behind her for the small package.
“I am giving you a small plant, but one that has great symbolism for me and now for you – the yellow cactus flower, is the symbol of endurance and lasting maternal love and you have that from me always no matter where you are.”
The little plant was just like the ones that Chenea and Dan walked by and admired daily in the red rock mountains.
“Oh, Mama, this means so much to me,” Chenea said crying and hugging her mother – “I know that because you love the cactus flower, I will get you to come walk with me where these grow wild and free in abundance. Will you do that soon, Mama?”
“As soon as I can, Chenea. Send me pictures when you return.”
Dan could hardly believe what Chenea told him on the plane ride back to Arizona. The cactus flower had always meant so much to him and now for her mother to give it as her gift to Chenea, the circle was complete and the link established.
“Chenea, will you marry me? I don’t have the ring yet, but I want you to come with me when we get home to pick the one you want.”
Chenea saw the vision her mother saw.