Day Twenty - Fly Butterfly Fly

 I will be 37 years old in May and for a large part of my life I have had butterflies in it.  I know that may sound funny but let me back track a bit and do a bit of explaining.  Mr. John G Powers, other wise known as "The Butterfly Man" has been a close family friend since before my birth.  John has spent his entire life devoted to his love of butterflies.  He is the founder of "Wings of Paradise" and has three world class travelling exhibitions Flying Jewels, The Incredible World of Bugs, and The Wings of Paradise Exhibit.  I began doing odd jobs for John at a very young age and by the time I was 13 I was manning the table at his mall show exhibits.  I have packaged hundred of thousands of butterfly products that John has created and marketed.  My parents home growing up always had beautiful shadow box cased butterflies from all over the world.  One this John taught me over the years is the beauty and miracle of the butterfly.  As a young teenager John would set me up with my own caterpillar, generally a monach.  He would give me a lesson on how to care for the little crawling creature I had, what to feed it ( I picked milkweed for ages) and how to know when the little caterpillar was going to change into a beautiful butterfly.  One of John's fabulous collections has signed autographs from celebrities from all over the world, anyone that has sang a song about butterflies, made a movie that made mention of butterflies, had a motto of butterflies like Mohammed Ali ( Float like a butterfly, Sting like a bee). Recently Ms. Miley Cyrus has sang a song entitled Butterfly Fly Away.  The main chorus of the song speaks about "Caterpillar in the tree, how you wonder who you'll be, can't go far but you can always dream.""Butterfly fly away, Butterfly fly away, flap your wings now you can't stay, take those dreams and make them all come true."  I have always believed caterpillars and butterflies are one of God's most beautiful miracles.  My favourite butterflies are the jewel toned butterflies, the Blue Morpho is my absolute favourite.  It is a large butterfly with a wingspan of 5 to 8 inches and is found in South and Central America.  Their beautiful jewel tone is a mixture of blue and green iridesence.  It is a profound miracle to watch these beauties emerge from the cocoon.  My mind is drawn to a wise quote from Richard Bach "What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.  I talked about the countdown to my surgery and then my new life starting.  It reminds me of the caterpillar and the butterfly.  I began a journey as a caterpillar, preparing for my cocoon...I reached the time or the end as some would say but it was not the end it was the beginning.  The beginning of my life, and as I emerge I will be the butterfly.  Fly Butterfly Fly!
Steph