[Arwen]

Several times my daughter had telephoned: "Mother, you must come to see the
daffodils before they're over."
It was a two-hour drive.
"I'll come next Tuesday," I promised on her third call.
Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Reluctantly I drove. When I finally
arrived, I was welcomed by my grandchildren.
"Forget the daffodils, Carolyn," I said. "The road's invisible in the fog,
and there's nothing in the world I want to see enough to drive another
inch!"
"We're going to see the daffodils," Carolyn said. "I'll drive. I'm used to
this."
After about 20 minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a
handmade sign reading "Daffodil Garden". We got out of the car, each took a
child's hand, followed the path.
Then, as we turned a corner, I looked up and gasped.
Before me lay the most glorious sight - as though someone had taken a great
vat of gold and poured it over the slopes. Five acres of flowers were
planted in great ribbons of deep orange, creamy white and lemon yellow. "Who
did this?" I asked.
"One woman."
Carolyn pointed to a small house sitting in the midst of that glory. We
walked up to it. On the patio was a poster saying: "Answers to the Questions
You Are Asking."
The first answer said "50,000 bulbs".
Then "One at a time, by one woman".
Then "Began in 1958".
That moment was life-changing. I thought of this woman I'd never met, who,
more than 40 years before, began to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an
obscure spot.
Planting one bulb at a time, year after year, she had forever changed the
world in which she lived. One day at a time, she had created something of
extraordinary magnificence, beauty and inspiration.
The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of celebration. And learning
to love the Doing - one step at a time.
"It makes me sad," I admitted to my daughter.
"What might I have accomplished if I'd thought of a wonderful goal 40 years
ago and had worked away at it through all those years? Just think what I
might have been able to achieve!"
Carolyn summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way.
"Start tomorrow," she said.