my grandpa died and then sent me a pink lily from the other side

okay this is going to sound cheesy but please stay with me.

my grandma and grandpa used to live together in this little house by the ocean. i loved them so much. every summer i'd go stay with them and we'd just... spend the whole summer together, all three of us. this one summer when i was in 2nd grade was the same.

grandpa was really into bonsai. he had this wide garden facing the sea, pine trees planted out front, pots and plants arranged everywhere to shelter them from the ocean wind.

one full moon night i woke up to use the bathroom and saw him through the window. just standing in the garden, moonlight falling over him, looking at his plants. so i went out.

white lilies were blooming everywhere. the smell was everywhere, soft and sweet. he noticed me and smiled and said "when you're old enough to take care of flowers properly, i'll give you a pot too."

he died in an accident after the new school year started.

the next summer i went to visit grandma, now alone. all the pots from the garden were gone. relatives had taken them, neighbors had taken them, distributed and scattered. the garden was basically empty.

except.

there were lilies blooming.

and then i remembered something i'd told him once.

"grandpa, i don't want a pot. i like lilies. not white ones though. pink ones would be better."

i had said that. i said that.

among all the white lilies blooming in the garden there was ONE single pink lily.

just one.

"grandma, did grandpa plant this?"

"oh my. how strange. nobody touched anything out here. yesterday there was no pink flower at all..."

grandma always sent me home with an armful of flowers from the garden. that year was no different.

without me saying a word, she cut that pink lily and put it in my arms.

i was little but i knew. somehow i just KNEW. grandpa sent it.