Be the Weed

Although I am not over 50, I love the TV Show "Sunday Morning." A few months ago they had a video about weeds: Our War Against Weeds. There is a link below if you have about eight minutes.

"What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered." - Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Last summer, we had a drought. Our lawn dried up, dead and brown. But through the cracks of cement, tall and resilient weeds thrived. Many weeds, like thistles, can be hacked down to ground level but still recover and produce even more vegetation than before.

We can learn a lot from a weed. A weed is a survivor. A weed actually does better when everything else is failing. A weed can adapt and become resistant to it's enemy the weedkiller, Round-Up.

I think I'm more a weed than a flower. And many of the people I admire most are also weeds.

• Judy and Laurie Corkery. Can you imagine being married with six and nine children respectively and losing your spouse? A flower would have been crushed. But these amazing people found each other and even decided to have another child. My Chris.

• Lee Albertson. A minister. Three kids. His wife dies of cancer at age 46. He did not give up. In fact he put his life on hold for many years after to make sure we were all taken care of. We all graduated from college and can thank him for giving us such a good start in life.
  

• Stephanie Pershing. Chronically ill for more than two decades. She told me once that she didn't want her illness to define her identity. She is brave, outspoken, a wonderful wife and mother. She lives every day to the fullest. When her family wants to take a trip, they go. We can all learn from her example. 
• Amanda Weichers. Her son nearly died as a toddler during a seizure. She and Andy are amazing parents to Beau, who was diagnosed with Partial Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum (P-ACC) as well as Epilepsy. They also started a non-profit organization and raise about $10,000 every year to help kids like Beau. And they welcomed a beautiful baby girl Delaney last July.
  
• All my Price Lab buddies. The school is now being torn down. There is a fence around it. It can feel devastating. But the children and parents move on in its honor. We remember the amazing place that existed in our backyard and now lives on in our hearts. 

Sometimes I get really mad. I forget that life isn't fair. I want it all my way. But then I remember, that I'm a weed too. Weeds will always find each other. Happy mother's day to all the weeds in my life.

Weeds
Green, tall
Hacking them down
Makes them grow stronger
Resilient