im so happy you're here!

March 27th, 1956

After almost 10 days of non-stopping rain, Tuesday has finally let some, actually quite a bit, of sunshine through. The air smells of earth and grass, as do my husbands gardening gloves. Thank goodness the raining stopped, because I could not have kept Edwin away from his flowers another day. His orchids, to be exact. He has develped such love for these creatures that the way he takes care of them makes one’s heart bloom. The gentlest of hands touching and watering them with the utmost care. 

A special place is reserved in his heart, and our garden, for the orchids Miss Carter gave him. They were, indeed, breathtaking. That is, they still are. They bloom like no other, smell like no other. Their big and healthy petals are of a creamy porcelain colour that envelops the pastel rose centre. 

What got him onto the immaculate journey of gardening was a very fortunate accident. On August 15th. 1955, Mr. Stark celebrated his birthday in a rather, well, pompous manner. Of all the gifts he’d gotten, the one he knew least what to do with were the pots of orchids. Mr. Stark was to be in New York again the next day and could not take all of his presents along with himself, let alone open them all in the next 13 hours. Edwin told him to take the orchids along with him to New York, saying they would look charming next to the beige cellphone in living room number 3.

 As per Mr. Starks usual nature, he slept in and had to leave in a frenzy, forgetting to take along the orchids that where still standing on the wooden desk next to the grammophone in the salon. Not knowing what to do, Edwin just let them be for the next 4 days, when they starting withering a tiny bit. Curiousity got the better of him and he took and glimpse inside of the old botanical books my mother got me on my 15th birthday. In the biggest one, one could see a bookmark peeking out at the middle part. He opened it right then and there and found himself infront of a 2 page long description on how to properly take care of lillies. The next 2 pages, being 43 and 44, were very descriptive on how to handle orchids. After 4 hours of careful perusal and not much sleep, Edwin awoke the next day with great excitement. It was now the 21st of August and he plunged into work rightaway. He was kneeling in the garden, on his right side my mothers book, on the other a gardening shovel. Edwin got to work pretty quickly and by afternoon, I still remember him calling me with great excitement, the orchids were carfully planted. 

Mr. Stark arrived three weeks later, awaited by the most lovely and lively orchids he has ever seen. To say that he was astonished would be an understatement. 

This very evening was also the one Miss Carter would come back to Los Angeles for the very first time after half a year. We awaited her with a great deal of enthusiasm, as did the orchids. After a wonderful night of laughter and Hungarian food, Miss Carter and I decided to go on a walk in our very garden. She noticed the orchids almost immediately and found them to be mesmerizing, her own words. I told her that Edwin had planted them, which simply added to her astonishment. That’s when she decided to gift him a pair of orchids on his birthday. Edwin was beyond happy. 

I notice I lost myself in story-telling, but unfortunately I must stop here, since I can hear Miss Carter arriving. Edwin will be quite startled that she decided to get here without him driving her, but Miss Carter explicitly told me not to tell Edwin, because she wanted him to get back to his flowers after 10 days of rain. What a nice gesture. It seems like Miss Carter had the right instincts, because it looks like the clouds are preparing again for three days of rain. Oh, a droplet of rain. I hope Edwin won’t be too devastated, but at least he got a small amount of time with his flowers today.