21 - Lily

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In my home country, houses tend to have altars for deceased relatives and certain deity. These altars can either be a significant spiritual part of the house, or nice decorations. The ones in my house serve both purposes. I still remember my mom bringing flowers from a nearby market several times a week and asking me to bring all flower vases from the altars to the kitchen. I always managed to spill or drop something every single time. 

Lily was the most spectacular type of flower in my house. My mom generally calls this type of flower "Li", or "Lil" instead of "Lily". Lil is expensive, so my mom reserve this for special occasions. Most of the time, she brought home the white variation, which is more common. Sometimes, she bought the pinkish variation called "Stargazer Lily". These flowers generally arrived home as unassuming buds - long and elegant in greenish white. After several days, they blossomed into spectacular flowers and filled the entire house with a charming fragrance.

When I was young, I was not too fond of Lil. I found it too much: too large, too strong fragrance, too pretty. But over time, I developed a soft spot for Lil. Do you know that Lily symbolise purity, virtue, feminity, and love? Greeks believed that Lil sprouted from the milk of Hera, the queen of the gods. In certain Asian countries, Lil is used in weddings because they are tied to 100 years of love.

For me, Lil reminds of home, happiness, and love. 

So, do you have a Lil in your life? You should.
I should, also, bring Lil to my life ...

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