Planting for the Future

I remember, when I was newly married, an Italian woman telling me that she only allowed her husband to have two fig trees.  Over the years I understood what she was talking about as we have had as many as 6 fig trees at once -- each being a labor of love.  They grow quickly, produce wonderful fruit, and need to be pruned each year.  We now only have two fig trees, having cut down a few last year. 

Yesterday, my husband proudly received a package and I should have not been surprised to see what it was.  Another fig tree.  He couldn't have been a happier guy.
The little tree arrived two days after we received a doctors report summary for our daughter who suffers from her seizure disorder which occurred as a result of injury from a brain bleed when she was two months old.  The report that narrates what changes have occurred in her over the past year-and-a half states her epilepsy is not well controlled, and that her behavior changes including intense raging, could be a result of her seizures.  Further testing is needed.  The report says, as others have told us, that we should consider surgical approaches to clarify where/how the seizures are starting.  They've asked us to find an expert epilepsy surgeon at an expert epilepsy center.  Whenever the word surgery is used, we first think of getting a hematologist on board because of her bleeding disorder (factor V deficiency). 
By next year, we will have progressed with our daughter's epilepsy - both her treatment and possibly recovery from surgery.  By then, we'll also include a comparison photo when we celebrate our fig tree's one-year birthday.  Planting for the future is planing for the future.  By next year it is our hope that both our daughter and our fig tree will be happy.  We hope our daughter will be doing better and strong enough to enter back into something fun in her life.  And by next year we hope that our little tree will be getting rooted and stronger in her life - in order to bear many delicious figs in the years to come.  Both require a labor of love.

Now that I think about it, two fig trees just aren't enough. Yesterday's arrival was truly something to celebrate.