Amaryllis,
by Leonor Henríquez

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       As we walked together to my car, she whispered to me:

– I carry a love inside me.

I thought to myself, “me too,” but I didn’t say anything so that I wouldn’t be seen talking to a flower.

Her name is Amaryllis, it is a tropical bulb, native to South America and the Caribbean that blooms in the winter.

Its stem is slender and its petals, in this case, are a sublime pink.

We arrived home and I placed her in all its magnificence next to my window.

Now in her place of honor Amaryllis, continued to whisper to me a story, or rather a poem. She told me this:

I carry a love inside me.
I can finally feel it today.
From the darkness I have emerged,
thanks to the soil,
watered with kindness and gratitude.

Today I shout it with my petals
opened to the wind.

Life expands and continues.

Today and forever, I can finally say,
I carry…we carry, a love in there.

 Yes, I probably need a psychiatrist, because as they say, it is okay if you talk to plants, the problem is if they answer you. This one not only spoke to me but recited to me a poem.

The true story is this: I won Amaryllis in a raffle.

It was recently, at the Christmas party that Bob Glasgow Grief Support Centre offers to its volunteers, and I can proudly say that I have been one for almost seven years.

One of the volunteers told us that, since Amaryllis was a bulb surrounded by darkness, she accompanied for six weeks the group sessions of people who have lost a loved one. There she grew up, together with them, listening to their stories and receiving the watering of the kindness of those who work there.  Amaryllis is a metaphor of determination, of strength, of hope.

When I heard my name in the raffle and realized that I would be taking Amaryllis home with me, I felt great joy.

Her beauty, her persistence reminds us that even in the most difficult times, we all carry a great love inside ourselves…

Happy New Year to the wonderful Atril team and to my kind readers!

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