Dandelion Wishes

The sun cast its late shadows as I walked to the river that runs through our property. Childhood memories were filling my mind. On the trail that runs beside the river, wild roses, blue bells and lupine bloom, along with bright yellow dandelions. Earlier in the day I had received a call that the mother of my childhood (and still) best friend, Kate, had passed away.

As I reached water’s edge, the water was running high, pounding the rocks and offering a welcome cool spray to the hot early Alaska summer weather we were having. I gazed at the dandelion at river’s edge, my mind was suddenly transported back to a day Kate and I were playing in the field behind her house. We would delightfully run with unabashed joy, picking one dandelion, then another,  and another, until our little arms had an over-flowing bouquet. We would pick a single flower place it under the chin of each other, to “see if she liked butter” as the tale was told. And then we would make necklaces with the rest. And if we didn’t find the yellow flower we might find its final farewell of feathery seed, beckoning us to pick it and blow – sending a “wish come true” as each seed flew heavenward.

Now, as an adult, living in the country, dandelions are often nothing but a pest, especially if you grow hay. The once delightful flower is now the weed that quickly overtakes parts of the hay or alfalfa field as they grow, and eventually go to fluffy seed. Even here in Alaska, dandelions are prolific. I chuckled, thinking it ironic as one neighbor was using her lawn dandelions for tea, my husband was ridding our hay field of the ‘obnoxious weed’!
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As I moseyed away from the river’s edge, returning to the shady trail, my eyes unexpectedly caught sight of a dandelion in its final stages. Against I’m sure my husband’s chagrin, the temptation to return to my childhood overcame me, and I blew the fluffy dandelion seeds up to the heavens, carried by the evening breeze, knowing every feathery seed would bring “my wish come true”.

I knew my ‘wish” would come true, for I know that wishes and dreams are not just impulses. Rather, wishes come from deep within our hearts. Our wishes are held deep within, until we let that deepest part of our heart go, the wish  carried by the spirit, blown heavenward.
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The answer may not come right away. The wish may not even be answered in the way we thought. But our deepest desires will be fulfilled. We only need be patient, and believe. Wishes DO come true!