I didn’t stumble upon this flower like the typical person would: on a nature walk, walk around the park, a hike etc. I was actually in a line of cars in my neighborhood for a birthday parade! The energy surrounding me was incredible, people held posters and blew up balloons and it was fascinating to me how much my community was coming together. My mom had seen a group on Facebook, where people announce the location of birthday parades in my town. I attended this birthday parade without even knowing the little boy whose birthday it was, but I figured everyone deserves some birthday cheer whether I know them well or not. 

I will admit, this assignment was not one of the first things on my mind during this parade, I didn’t even know this assignment existed at the time! However as I got out of my car and stumbled onto the little boy’s lawn and held up my poster to wish him a happy birthday, I came across these captivating purple flowers. Purple is my most favorite color, and I never come across purple flowers so I got extremely excited! I immediately took a picture, of course, so I would never forget them (and of course to post on my Instagram story). 

As I was reading this assignment for the first time a few days later, I couldn’t believe the coincidence. I truly believe it was a sign that I partook in that birthday parade, came across those flowers, and then had to write this assignment. When I was searching and searching for the name of that flower and realized the name was a “Forget-Me-Not,” I couldn’t fathom what I was experiencing! I firmly believe that I was meant to never forget my experience at this birthday parade, and for that matter my experiences during this pandemic. When I look back upon these moments and educate generations of students about what we went through as a nation, I will never forget to mention those Forget-Me-Nots that I came across, because from that moment on, I had a newfound appreciation for the hidden beauty of a community banding together.

-Sydnee Schapiro