Signs From Beyond?

Written by Gordon Smith Last week I popped into Ninewells Hospital in Dundee to visit my cousin who’d had her appendix whipped out. Successfully :)

Ninewells is a place I came to know quite well around 18 months ago when my wife, Janet, was undergoing investigations and treatment associated with a brain tumour. Sadly, despite the best efforts of all concerned, the tumour won and Janet lost a brave and dignified battle in May 2024.

It’s still not an easy place for me to visit, with trips along the main concourse triggering memories of the visits to the coffee shop, and other jaunts, with Janet.

And so it was last week. Lost in my thoughts as I followed the signs to a, thankfully, unfamiliar ward. Thoughts of the surprisingly nice coffee and the cheeky cakes we consumed. Thoughts of the people watching, wondering what ailed those, like Janet, with no obvious signs of illness. Some surprisingly happy thoughts, despite the fact we knew there was to be no happy ending.

As I turned the corner from the main concourse though, just after the café, my daydream was interrupted as I saw three pictures hanging side by side on the wall of the corridor to the wards. Each one of an Orchid.

I have three Orchids at home. One which has been healthy and very productive as long as I can remember. One which I got from friends when Janet died, and I haven’t yet managed to kill. And one which hasn’t flowered in around three years. Until recently.

We’d kept the later one, more in hope than anything else, based on the notion that we’d heard that some Orchids spring to life in random places years after they have been discarded as lost causes.

As I’ve been exploring and developing my spirituality, I’ve often wondered if Janet is “watching over me” and whether she might show me a sign that I was doing something good, or being a plonker. I’ve wondered if the encounters with deer on my walks, random feathers, or hearing particular songs at apparently appropriate times, have been such signs. And they may have been, but how could I be sure? The sceptic in me was prepared to accept the possibility of coincidence.

All three of my Orchids are now spectacular and I firmly believe that Janet is guiding me in their care. (I was never the gardener in our partnership!) I’ve told her as much and asked that Orchids be a sign she uses to communicate with me. To make it bleed’n obvious that she’s there with/for me.

And so, as I turned that corner with Janet in my mind, there was no coincidence. Yes, these pictures will likely have been there for ages. I may even have walked past them before. But three of them? Just as I was congratulating myself for having donned my brave pants and not having crumbled?

 No, that was the loveliest, and most welcome of signs. Thank you Janet.🙏

P.S. in thinking of a title for this Blog, once written, I Googled “Orchid meaning and symbolism.”

“Spiritual Significance: In many cultures, orchids represent purity and renewal, especially white orchids, which symbolize a pure soul.” The one that came back to life is, of course, white. 😊