Another day

It was 5:30am as she woke up to a new day and pulled out the little black notebook that she kept on her bedside table to write down her dreams. This morning she dreamt of walking down the usually crowded streets of New York, chancing upon a tin box on the ground. Without thinking she picked up the box and opened it. To her astonishment, the tin box contained an envelope with $20,000 in cash and a neatly written note that said, "Use It Wisely." She quickly placed the contents back into the tin box, threw it into her bag, and her dream abruptly ended.

She wrote down her dream in her black notebook and began to think of all the things she could do with $20,000:

- A new car

- The newest camera

- A coveted piece of art

She continued to dream of all the possibilities for that money as she went through her daily morning ritual. At the office, she became so engrossed in the three massive computer screens at her desk to create promotional videos for her company's clients to look up from her work and realize that it was already time to eat. She packed her bag and decided to eat her lunch at the tables outside the office.

It was a beautiful, sunny day filled with chatter from all sides by New Yorkers that were also enjoying the weather. From the corner of her eye she noticed an older gentleman approaching in her direction, but did not make much of it until she heard: "Isabel? May I have your attention for a minute?" She looked up to see an older gentleman smiling down at her.

"Can I help you?" said Isabel.

"You do not know me, but I do know a lot about you. My name is George and I am Himari's late husband, the woman that you visited when you were a teenager to play chess, read books, and chat during tea ceremonies," said the gentleman.

"Late husband?" said Isabel. "Do you mean she has passed"?

"She fell ill this past year and passed away," he said lowering his gaze and pausing for a minute. Then he raised his eyes to look at Isabel. "But from all of her stories the best memories were spent with you. I must admit that I missed out on so much because of a busy work schedule, but I was glad to make up for some of that time this past year."

After another pause the gentleman took out an envelope from his pocket and handed it to Isabel.

"She wanted you to have this. She said you would know what to do with it," as he placed the envelope in front of Isabel. "I truly cannot thank you enough! I am so glad that there are people like you in this world."

With those words the gentleman turned around and walked away, as Isabel watched him round the corner. She slowly took the envelope and opened it to find $20,000 in cash.

"How could this be?" she exclaimed. Isabel racked her brain to figure out why Himari decided to give her such a generous gift.

She had started visiting Himari when she noticed the woman walking a lot by herself, clearly yearning for a friendly face. That was when Isabel decided to befriend the older woman. She approached her one day as the woman was sitting at the bench outside of the apartment building, admiring the spring day and nature waking up from its winter slumber.

"Hello, my name is Isabel. May I join you?" Thus began a friendship that allowed Isabel to learn about the world. For Himari, seeing the world through the young girl's perspective brought a new interest in life that she had lost after years of heartbreak from loss and racial discrimination.

Isabel jolted awake from her daydream by a siren that passed near the office. She realized it had gotten dark and picking up her things headed home. Once home, she collapsed in bed and fell into a deep sleep.

The next day Isabel woke up and opened her little black notebook again. This time she just wrote one thing - Hollyhock Foundation. In her dream last night Isabel was once again walking with Himari. The older woman was telling her that humans have a tendency to forget about the simple things in life that bring so much joy. For any type of celebration the go-to present is typically flowers. New York needed more green amongst the grey to brighten a person's day and add joy, even for a fleeting moment.

Isabel also remembered that once, after much prodding, Himari told her that her name meant Hollyhock, a type of flower native to Asia that has a festival dedicated to it in Kyoto. Hollyhock symbolizes fecundity in the language of flowers, which was a difficult topic for Himachi because she was unable to have kids. She thus decided to dedicate her life to learning about plants and trees, so that she could ensure that her love and love of life could live on long after she passed away.

The answer was clear to Isabel. She went to Hollyhock Foundation located in Downtown Manhattan and donated the $20,000 to plant beautiful trees around the city. The foundation also repurposed once-used flowers into arrangements to be hand-delivered by volunteers to local nursing homes, homeless shelters, and others in need. A touch of beauty and a sense of connection for those that seem to have been forgotten.

That night, while sitting down to honor Himari in a tea ceremony, Isabel realized she bypassed a materialistic and short-term satisfaction opportunity for one that contributed something bigger than herself and will pass on to future generations.

The last thing she wrote in the little black notebook was a simple note to herself:

"May I cherish the simple treasures of life, because satisfaction with the ordinary is what makes life extraordinary."