Dandelion Wishes

This past week, we went back to Iowa to visit family, celebrate the opening of my Mom’s Bed & Breakfast and my parents 35th Wedding Anniversary. It was a crazy jam packed 5 days and I think it is honestly going to take me a month to catch up on sleep and regain my normal level of energy.

As usual it was a wonderful time, and with each visit, we all experience a level of depression as we return to the hectic crazy schedule that “going home” brings. The boys begged, pleaded and wished many times to stay in Iowa forever. It is a constant struggle we all feel. If only we could be two places at once.

So speaking of wishes, as you can imagine the boys spent a great deal of time outside enjoying the wide open spaces, the great Iowa soft grass and the myriad of insects, animals and things waiting to be discovered. Just one of the things they discovered was Iowa’s great dandelions. Now most Iowans would probably disagree with me and suggest that they are more of a weed than a beautiful flower, but to Gabriel and Michael they were a pretty “sun flower” As I showed them the difference between an in-bloom dandelion and one that has gone to seed, I told them to grab one that had gone to seed and to make a wish.

As a child, this was something I remember doing in our backyard all the time with my brother and sisters. I guess we had a lot of dandelions in our yard. I told the boys, just like finding a penny, old dandelions were the perfect thing to make a wish. And so they did…

Michael went first and said, “I wish I had my very own 4 wheeler, like my uncle Jonas.” And then he blew the seeded weed and off it went into the wind.

Then Gabriel went… “I wish that I have a very good life.” And very soon thereafter his dandelion was blowing away too.

As I heard Gabriel’s wish I started to ask him what a “very good life” looks like, but before I could take the 3 seconds to finish my sentence Michael interrupted me…

“Mom, see there’s no 4-wheeler (as he shook his head in disappointment). Mom, dandelion wishes don’t work.”

Guess maybe I should have added the clause that your wishes may not come true immediately.

Until next time,

Angie
PS: More Iowa stories (and pictures) coming soon.