Over the Rainbow

About seven years ago I turned to knitting - honestly I wanted the excuse to buy yarn because I love the colors and textures.  In my usual mild manner I ended up in a scarf knitting frenzy producing over 100 scarves...I know, I know, a bit compulsive.  Tiny bit.  Knitting brought me to the local yarn store in Provo.  Whenever I would spend too much money on yarn the employees there would remind me that "it's cheaper than therapy."  They had a good point.  It was there that I met Iris.  She wore her hair (as she describe it) "chemo" style, earrings up and down each ear, and rings on almost every finger.  She was short and tough and tan.  A cancer survivor that ran triathelons, marathons, and biked...she got down to business.  She told me that she was the first female diesel mechanic in the Army.  After she passed through the door I also found out that she was one of six women that had run marathons on every continent in the world after being diagnosed with breast cancer.  I introduced her to a friend who was visiting the shop who was going through cancer treatments.  She ran the Susan Koman route in my friend's honor.  In 2007 I started working for Salt Lake City and no longer could frequent my favorite yarn haunt.  I did make a few short visits - enough time to find out that the mighty Iris was facing the cancer dragon again.  She passed through the door on Feb. 27, 2010.  Fast forward to my adventure - I wished very much that Iris was around for a chat.  I yearned for her insights and the practical pep talk that would follow.

In the meantime, here's what happened. One night I was begging for an anti-nausea pill...that was still an hour away (and that was with cheating on how much time I should wait...arghhh).  To help keep me occupied my friend c. forward a beautiful digital slideshow featuring (you guessed it) the iris.  Her message was as follows:
"...Irises offer an interesting paradox. The rhizomes are tough and drought tolerant but the blooms are incredible fragile...try to cut a bloom and get it in the house without damaging it.  Good luck.  The metaphor part is that the plant moves on after it blooms, never blooming again on that part and spreading outward from the center.  Less than 45 minutes to go."  Not long after that my friend M. arrived at my office with a large armload of - you got it - irises from her yard.  Not surprisingly, a short time later while leaving the office I noted, for the first time, little dwarf irises blooming in front of the City/County building next to where my car was parked.

AND YET - I didn't connect the dots.  Can you imagine what Iris was saying????  "CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW???"  When it finally clicked I laughed outloud...thanks for working so hard to get through my yarn loving, marathon running friend.  I got it.  I googled "irises" wondering what else my friend might have to say.

Vincent Van Gogh painted irises to "keep his illness away".  The Greek Goddess Iris acted as the link between heaven and earth - the personification of a rainbow (iris being the Greek word for rainbow) and the flower was planted on graves to guide the dead to heaven.  The meaning of iris has come to include faith, hope and wisdom.

Thank you Iris for carrying me over the rainbow.  Pot of gold I finally got it.  I'll take the message to the next cancer friend.  Love you Iris.