I grew up in the southwest suburbs of Chicago, Illinois where the first spring blooms from memory were daffodils. Their bright sunny faces promised the coming of summer.

Today, Berta brought me daffodils. I look forward to watching them unfold, much like myself coming out of a cocoon from winter.

“…For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.”

By William Wordsworth (1770-1850).