Daffodils

Since having my own home and gardens I have had daffodils and have enjoyed them sprouting up in early spring, often in between snowflakes. They offer the first glimpse of spring with their bright colors of hope and rebirth.

During my visit (a year and a half ago) to the U.S. Holocaust Museum’s gift shop I was exposed to seeing daffodils in a new light: as a living symbol and tribute to the 1.5 million Jewish children who were killed in the Holocaust. The daffodil is yellow like the yellow Star of David the Jews were forced to wear and it also has six petals similar to the six points of the Jewish Star. In the gift shop, I saw and purchased a yellow and black beaded bracelet for my daughter (although after returning home I learned it was too large for her wrist and just right for mine.) They were being sold to raise funds for The Daffodil Project inAtlanta, Georgia. To learn more visit their site: http://www.daffodilproject.net 

Salusia & Milius with a nurse?

The other day the weather and timing were perfect for me to plant the 40 daffodil bulbs I had purchased to plant on the hill behind my new house. Ever since I had bought them weeks before the Daffodil Project had crossed my mind. I liked the idea of putting significance behind my daffodils. The morning of planting, hours before the actual planting, I began thinking about Salusia and Milius, my grandmother’s niece and nephew who were lost/disappeared during the Holocaust. All that was left of them, that anyone is aware of is photos with notes written on the back that my great aunt mailed to her parents in New York from Poland. Their fates remain unknown.

However, when the planting began, with my own son by my side, I forgot to think about those two sweet children I only known from photos and focused on the mosquitos, the steepness of the hill and how many 40 actually is….A LOT! But during the digging of yet another 4-5” deep hole Salusia and Milius flashed in my mind, then I hit a rock. “Aw come ON!” I dug up the rock only to discover it’s shape resembled a heart. I chose to place the rock over the bulb I planted, I may not be able to locate the rock again when the brush grows in, and hopefully the bulb will grow around it, but it was at that moment I remembered why my heart was planting 40 daffodil bulbs.