What A Splendid Comeback - A Posthumous Last Laugh

This time of year, as people prepare their gardens for vegetables and flowers, I always think back to a funny incident that happened with my mother-in-law, Gerri, who died in 1985.

The incident has helped me realize that we need to laugh more in life, play practical jokes on each other, be lighter and look for humor. My mother-in-law has been dead 15 years now and this experience is one I remember most about her.

Gerri had some health-related problems in her life but they never truly interfered with her sense of humor. I do believe if we had more humor in our daily lives, there would be far fewer tranquilizers.

Here’s the story about Gerri that still makes me chuckle:

My mother-in-law did her best to grow zucchini. She did fine with the plant growth but no zucchini materialized. My zucchini grew and produced, so naturally, this frustrated my mother-in-law. One day my husband found three rocks that resembled zucchini which we painted green and put under her zucchini plant.

Later that day, we encouraged her to look in her garden at her zucchini. She found the painted rocks and the expression on her face was wonderful - until she discovered it was a rock. She chased us with that rock. She was 82 years of age. Oh, how we all laughed!

Months later, in the fall, after we had forgotten the incident, my mother-in-law gave me a seed. She told me the seed was a rare flower from Hawaii and very hard to grow. Since my ground appeared to be more fertile than her ground, we planted the seed in a protected, sunny spot.

That winter, sadly, my mother-in-law Gerri passed away.

In the spring, I cared for the planted seed - nurtured, fertilized and watered it daily. Soon the seed grew into a large, beautiful, green and healthy looking plant. How thrilled we were.

It wasn’t long until the plant was two feet tall, with exceptionally large leaves. I felt I really had outdone myself and the bloom this rare plant would produce would be spectacular. The camera was ready.

Soon, the precious plant bloomed. It was a lowly sunflower - large, healthy and well-cared for.

Now we know who had the last laugh.