I don't know about you, but in 3rd grade, we discovered pussy willows. It was love at first sight. When we spied them on our way to school everyone got one. best friend, teacher, maybe last year's teacher, and of course Mom. We recited a poem about them in spring parent-teacher conferences, each of us holding rabbit-ear soft puff balls on a stick. To this day, the sight of them makes me a little giddy. This year they have new meaning for me--a new reason to hold their little softness in the light.
As it turns out, in Ukraine and Russia and other predominantly Eastern Catholic countries (including Austria and Finland), pussy willows replace palms in Palm Sunday celebrations because the northern climates simply won't grow palm trees. Because not many pussy willows are likely to be used for any kind of celebration while people are running and hiding or fighting for their lives, I picked some for my dining room table to hold in the light the for the people of Ukraine. To hold in the light for nearby others also in harms way. I keep in mind what they know in Ukraine; pussy willows in this part of the world bring "new life." New life from my table carried on hope across the world, along with the fuzzy fluff I will blow to the wind.
