A short story about Resilience, Life learning, Life lessons
Let me tell you a story, a story about Grandmother Willow. We write stories to remember and our memories helps us to remember important lessons.
Grandmother Willow would approve because she liked to tell stories and loved to watch the faces of her grandchildren light up in wonder as if they were seeing something bright and new.
The sun burst from behind the clouds bathing Grandmother Willow in a deliciously warm light making her shiver in delight. Small delicate leaves broke free and gently fluttered down landing on the river flowing quickly past her position on the bank.
The small saplings were eager to her the latest story and whispered excitedly hoping that it would be the one with the man and the chainsaw, sending "oooooo's" amongst them, while another said "what about the one with the raging fire singeing our leaves". This generated movement amongst the saplings mimicking whipping branches out of the way of imaginary spots of fire causing Grandmother Willow to giggle.
"Sorry kids, not today" resulting in a widespread "aaaw" of indignation.
"No, instead I will tell you about a flood."
The flood Grandmother Willow was about to describe was the one that took the lives of the parents of many of the saplings listening today and the flood season was about to begin so Grandmother Willow wanted everyone to learn the lessons of the floods.
"Can you see the dark lines on my bark, they mark each of the floods I have withstood."
"The worst flood covered me almost to my top branch. The water was flowing so strongly I was so scared that I would be whisked away I almost dropped all my leaves" to which there were sniggers from a few saplings imagining a naked grandma, but most were leaning into the story.
Grandmother lowered her voice so the saplings would all need to listen closely "you know why I survived when so many didn't" a rustle of branches sounded as everyone shook their top branches, "I survived because I went with the flow."
Grandmother Willow continued and said "before I was a sapling I was a seed. A bird ate that seed and flew long distances to drop me in this beautiful spot. There were no other Willows around so I needed to learn everything for myself."
"Does that mean you started out as poop?" asked the littlest sapling closest to Grandmother "In a way," replied Grandmother Willow, "but I was inside the poop. It nourished me and helped me to blossom into something beautiful."
"When I broke free of the earth I trusted I was in the right place but I also knew I needed to plant some deep roots, roots that will sustain me and protect me."
Grandmother Willow continued, "life is a garden, if you want to grow strong and stand tall, you need to tend to your garden, nurture it, so that it will flourish."
"What does 'nurture' mean" asked a Sapling? "It means taking care of your roots and branches so that your roots go deep and strong and your branches are supple and tough. My roots hold the bank together so that all of you can be here. When you grow up your roots will help keep our home here and safe"
"Tell us about the flood" shouted a large sapling further down the river bank, "and speak up."
"Alright," said Grandmother Willow, "as many of you will know, our river floods every year."
"Several years ago we had the worst flood ever, with water flowing so high, I was almost covered."
"Unfortunately all your parents were covered and the water was like a raging bull, rushing faster and faster."
"Your parents were frightened and I told them to go with the flow, to bend with the water. But they didn't."
"Instead, they were frozen with fear."
"The winding river showed no mercy and they were swept away, roots and all" An emptiness opened up with the only sound being quiet tears rolling down the saplings branches.
"My heart was broken" the voice of Grandmother Willow filled the void, "and shattered into many pieces that day."
"If they had only relaxed and let the river flow over them rather than being tense, giving the river something to grab, they would have been ok."
She paused to gather her breathe, grief weighing heavy on her heart, "but I have always believed that life is a classroom, and that every experience teaches us to be strong like a tall oak."
"I believe that if you choose to, you can see that life contains nothing but clear skies up ahead and that there are no bad seeds here."
"If you hold onto to this idea and allow yourself to bend and sway, with grace and ease, rather than push against the currents, you can hold your ground and share your story with your grand-saplings."
