Dear Reader:

Tuesday Brooke and I will meet at Edisto Beach for a few days to celebrate another Ya gathering-but it won’t be the same without Jackson and Libby… in absentia.

Jackson is still acclimating to her new daily life post cancer surgery and Libby’s brother is also undergoing cancer surgery.

But I thought about it and decided Brooke and I will have to be the gladiators for our friends who are fighting their own personal battles or helping others in their families fight theirs.

As I was working on a flower arrangement to take to Edisto… I decided to add gladioli-after all their shape is in the form of small swords used in deadly battles as entertainment for the Romans in the Coliseum by courageous gladiators !

It is said that gladiators wore gladiolus corms around their necks to help them survive and be victorious!

I was thinking Brooke and I should make some gladioli around our necks for our two Ya’s in commemoration of their courage and perseverance. Besides gladioli symbolizing strength and courage it also represents friendship-the perfect plant for this unique Ya retreat!

One legend tells the story of

a cruel Roman commander who captured two Thracian boys and turned them into gladiators. The two boys, Sevt and Tere were close friends but the cruel commander forced the friends to fight each other…promising the winner freedom and a homecoming.

When the trumpets sounded the two friends stuck their swords in the ground and rushed to each other with open arms, ready to receive death. They were immediately put to death but legend has it…once their bodies hit the ground-their swords took root and blossomed into tall beautiful flowers! In their honor the flower was called gladioli.

So until tomorrow… these flowers are still a symbol of friendship, loyalty, and memory! The way we were and soon will be again-no longer former shadows of ourselves!

” Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh