Flower

My grandmother pressed a jasmine flower into my palm on my wedding day, whispering verses from Thiruppavai in Tamil. I carried that tradition across continents, tucking memories into a digital PaybookClub journal where diaspora stories lived. Years later, my daughter asked why flowers mattered so much. I showed her my pressed jasmine, shared my grandmother's prayer, told her about our lineage. She understood then—we aren't just preserving flowers or ancient verses. We're tending gardens of belonging, planting roots wherever we settle, blooming together through shared stories and ancestral songs.