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Thanks For The Thorns

Sandra felt as low as the heels of her Birkenstocks as she pushed against a November gust and the florist shop door. Her life had been easy, like a Spring breeze. Then in the fourth month of her second pregnancy, a minor Automobile accident stole her ease. During this Thanksgiving week she would have delivered a son. She grieved over her loss. As if that weren\'t enough her husband\'s company threatened a transfer. Then her sister, whose holiday visit she coveted, called saying she could not come. What\'s worse, Sandra\'s friend infuriated her by suggesting her grief was a God-given path to maturity that would allow her to empathize with others who suffer. \"Had she lost a child? -No--she has no idea what I\'m feeling,\"" Sandra shuddered. \""Thanksgiving? Thankful for what?\"" she wondered. \""For a careless driver whose truck was hardly scratched when he rear-ended her? For an airbag that saved her life but took that of her child?\"" \""Good afternoon, can I help you?\"" The flower shop clerk\'s approach startled her. \""Sorry,\"" said the clerk, Jenny, \""I just didn\'t want you to think I was ignoring you.\"" \""I.... I need an arrangement.\"" \""For Thanksgiving?\"" Sandra nodded. \""Do you want beautiful but ordinary, or would you like to challenge the day with a customer favorite I call the Thanksgiving Special.\"" Jenny saw Sandra\'s curiosity and continued. \""I\'m convinced that flowers tell stories, that each arrangement insinuates a particular feeling. Are you looking for something that conveys gratitude this Thanksgiving?\"" \""Not exactly!\"" Sandra blurted. \""Sorry, but in the last five months, everything that could go wrong has.\"" Sandra regretted her outburst but was surprised when Jenny said, \""I have the perfect arrangement for you.\"" The door\'s small bell suddenly rang. \""Barbara! Hi,\"" Jenny said. She politely excused herself from Sandra and walked toward a small workroom. She quickly reappeared carrying a massive arrangement of greenery, bows, and long-stemmed thorny roses. Only, the ends of the rose stems were neatly snipped, no flowers. \""Want this in a box?\"" Jenny asked. Sandra watched for Barbara\'s response. Was this a joke? Who would want rose stems and no flowers! She waited for laughter, for someone to notice the absence of flowers atop the thorny stems, but neither woman did. \""Yes, please. It\'s exquisite,\"" said Barbara. \""You\'d think after three years of getting the special, I\'d not be so moved by its significance, but it\'s happening again. My family will love this one. Thanks.\"" Sandra stared. \""Why so normal a conversation about so strange an arrangement?\"" she wondered. \""Ah. . .\"" said Sandra, pointing. \""That lady just left with, ah. . .\"" \""Yes?\"" \""Well, she had no flowers!\"" \""Right, I cut off the flowers.\"" \""Off?\"" \""Off. Yep. That\'s the Special. I call it the Thanksgiving Thorns Bouquet.\"" \""But, why do people pay for that?\"" In spite of herself she chuckled. \""Do you really want to know?\"" \""I couldn\'t leave this shop without knowing. I\'d think about nothing else!\"" \""That might be good,\"" said Jenny. \""Well,\"" she continued, \""Barbara came into the shop three years ago feeling very much like you feel today. She thought she had very little to be thankful for. She had lost her father to cancer, the family business was failing, her son was into drugs, and she faced major surgery.\"" \""Ouch!\"" said Sandra. \""That same year, I lost my husband. I assumed complete responsibility for the shop and for the first time, spent the holidays alone. I had no children, no husband, no family nearby, and too great a debt to allow any travel.\"" \""What did you do?\"" \""I learned to be thankful for thorns.\"" Sandra\'s eyebrows lifted. \""Thorns?\"" \""I\'m a Christian, Sandra. I\'ve always thanked God for good things in life and I never thought to ask Him why good things happened to me? But, when bad stuff hit, did I ever ask! It took time to learn that dark times are important. I always enjoyed the \'flowers\' of life but it took thorns to show me the beauty of God\'s comfort. You know, the Bible says that God comforts us when we\'re afflicted and from His consolation we learn to comfort others.\"" Sandra gasped. \""A friend read that passage to me and I was furious! I guess the truth is I don\'t want comfort. I\'ve lost a baby and I\'m angry with God.\"" She started to ask Jenny to \""go on\"" when the door\'s bell diverted their attention. \""Hey, Phil!\"" shouted Jenny as a balding, rotund man entered the shop. She softly touched Sandra\'s arm and moved to welcome him. He tucked her under his arm at his side for a warm hug. \""I\'m here for twelve thorny long-stemmed stems!\"" Phil laughed, heartily. \""I figured as much,\"" said Jenny. \""I\'ve got them ready.\"" She lifted a tissue-wrapped arrangement from the refrigerated cabinet. \""Beautiful,\"" said Phil. \""My wife will

Quotes

Dalton's records, carefully preserved for a century, were destroyed during the World War II bombing of Manchester. It is not only the living who are killed in war.

By Isaac Asimov