THE CHALLENGED | MAY 13, 2025

After the Storm

Rising up like a phoenix

Photo by Alev Takil on Unsplash

This week, Salsam invites us to reflect on this: April Showers bring May Flowers. Relate to a time in life when good things happened after a storm.

It was a stormy season of life, the kind we all have at one time or another. Looking back, I think part of it was just how unexpectedly it appeared. It was like a late afternoon sun shower in New England on a muggy summer day — you know it’s coming but you’re still not prepared.

And then, just like when that summer sun shower clears out, the humidity lowers significantly and the temperature drops 15 degrees. Ahhh, it’s enough to warrant a light sweater, which is quite welcome.

That’s the season of life I’m talking about — when the harsh showers bring in the beauty of flowers. “What exactly was the storm?” I am asked. I look out at the group, wondering how much I want to tell, how much I should feel comfortable telling, and what will happen if I tell the whole thing. Sure, it’s only one side of the story — it’s mine, though. I own it. I lived it. I came out on the other side.

I made up what I wanted to share as I went along — storytelling often takes on a life of its own when we permit it. By the time I was done sharing my stormy story with the rosy outcome, even I believed what had happened. This is what I shared:

Driving along the winding two-lane Montana highway, I suddenly saw all the cars stopped ahead. Could it be a bear or a moose? — I wondered — maybe even a buffalo? All I knew for sure was that I was going to be late, and that would mean I’d miss my flight, which would lead to arguments and missing the celebration altogether. It all sounded awful, and I couldn’t see my way out of all these scenarios playing out in painful reminders that my family never wanted me to stay here for this past month. I assured them I’d be fine and that I’d make it back in time for the celebration. Well, now that didn’t look like a reasonable possibility.

I sighed heavily, not even wanting to contemplate what else might get in the way of getting home tonight.

Two hours later, I was still on the road — maybe only a couple hundred yards from where I originally stopped. I turned off the ignition, turned up some soft piano music on Spotify, and closed my eyes. When I opened my eyes, the traffic was clear. As awful as I thought everything was going to be, I was relieved to learn that I had written the wrong date for the celebration. When I arrived, I was early enough to help with final preparations.

Living through that stormy day, and coming out on the other side with appreciation for my own scatterbrain in putting things on calendars, I told myself that as long as I kept my positive attitude, hopefully any storm I try to weather will result in a positive outcome, like this one did. After all, April showers do bring May flowers, right? And the sun comes up the day after a storm, bringing in the beauty of a sunrise over the sea.

This story is based on an invitation by ***Salsam’s *prompt about finding good after something bad

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