Season puts a spring in mom's step

It’s official. Spring has arrived at last.
I was beginning to wonder if it would ever get here. It is not just the calendar that says spring has sprung. It is the return of energy that indicates that the long winter is finally over.
I realize that writing those words almost guarantees that more snow will soon be in the forecast. Fate does not like to be tempted, but the warmer temperatures, the sunshine, and the blue skies demand that I recognize the changing seasons.
I spent a couple of days at my mother’s last week. I cleaned out her plantings in between doctor’s appointments. While I was trimming her shrubs, I noticed that she had a small cluster of crocuses in bloom. They were a cheerful sky blue and tucked under her forsythia. She didn’t feel steady enough to go see for herself that they were open. They were the first real flowers I had seen all year other than the ones I had forced into bloom.
I had checked my own flower beds before I left and there was nary a blossom to be seen. I am always surprised at what a difference a hundred miles or so makes in the bloom time of common flowers. It was several days after I returned home that I first spied my early snow crocuses opening their gossamer petals to the sun. A day or so after that, the snowdrops popped up to enjoy the weather.
The change in the seasons seemed to do more than encourage early blooming plants to come out and be admired. It also gave my mother extra energy. After we left the first doctor, she said she wanted some new shoes.
We stopped at a shoe store. They had exactly one pair that fit her specifications. She said she would take them but I insisted she try them on. She did and again said they fit. I asked her to walk in them, just to be sure. To my amazement, she took off down the aisle without her walker.
I was shocked. She rarely goes even a few steps without the security of the walker. She walked back to the seat and I helped her change into her old shoes. She was smiling as she realized she had walked by herself.
Then we visited the second doctor who told her she was fine. There was nothing wrong. Of course, she didn’t believe him. She never believes anybody who doesn’t confirm her fears.
We went back to her house and spent a quiet evening together. The next day it was off to another doctor. As expected, I missed the entrance and had to find a place to turn around. Mom managed to climb not one, but four steps to the office. The physician treated several small pre-cancers on her arms and set up a return appointment. I didn’t want to push our luck and insisted that we take the ramp back to the parking lot.
We stopped at a craft store on the way back and Mom bought several small projects. I used part of my birthday money to buy an Easter wreath. I took her home and my brother met us there. We talked for a few minutes and I left for home.
I was pleased at how the previous few days had gone. Mom may have been disappointed that only one of the three doctors had found any problems, but I wasn’t. I saw that she was strong enough to walk without the walker, if only for a few steps. Seeing her flowers in bloom meant that mine wouldn’t be far behind.
The lack of snow and ice made for an easy ride home. Yes, it is spring, with all that entails. Flowers, doctor visits, renewed energy and all the rest are things that indicate that the worst of winter is over.  The season of renewal is upon us. Let’s go out and enjoy every minute of it.