Greenwood Memory Lawn Cemetery, Phoenix, Arizona

The lovely daffodil sometimes pops up so early that it peaks through the snow as one of the first arrivals in the spring showering the garden with bright hues of gold, yellow, and orange. 

The daffodil is in the genus of Narcissus.  A name which most haven’t heard since our 9th-grade lit class where we were told the Greek story of the handsome young hunter who saw his own reflection in the mirrored waters of a pool.  Narcissus was so enraptured with his own image that he shunned the lithe and beautiful nymph, Echo.  He could not bear to pull away from his reflection and as he drew near to the water in the pool displaying his image, Narcissus fell into the water and drowned, becoming a symbol of self-love.

The daffodil, however, does not represent self-love when it is seen on a gravestone, but instead, the death of youth and beauty. 

Greenwood Memory Lawn Cemetery, Phoenix, Arizona