Notice the Daffodils | Ambleside School

Dear Parents,

At the tail end of winter and the earliest beginnings of spring, our barren landscapes are studded with the beauty of daffodils. A harbinger of spring, daffodils announce rebirth, warmer days and a reminder that surprises can be right around the corner. 

Daffodils also inspired one of the most famous poems in the English language, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud by William Wordsworth. The story goes that he and his sister Dorothy came across a wild patch of daffodils along the shore of Lake Ullswater while out on a walk, and the beauty inspired him to write. 

When all at once I saw a crowd, 

A host, of golden daffodils

Besides being able to multiply on their own, going from a small number of bulbs to carpeting a large field, daffodils also seem to have the ability to multiply joy. They never fail to elicit a smile of enjoyment from passersby noticing their mark of things to come.

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company

Former Ambleside student, Monica Boyd Ashworth (1996–2024), was also one who multiplied joy. She passed away unexpectedly on March 7, leaving behind her husband, Jake, and newborn son, Lincoln.

At her celebration of life on March 15, her family, colleagues, friends, and former students stood up, one after another, and testified to some of the lessons we can learn from her well-lived life.

Daffodils flank the walkway up to Ambleside’s front door. They were planted by this year’s 8th grade class in the fall of 2021.

1. Smile often and laugh frequently. Monica positively impacted everyone around her through her high joy, laughter, and infectious smile. Her coworkers at River Bend Middle School had so much fun together that they thought it was only a matter of time before their principal separated them. 

2. Small acts of kindness really do matter. Monica blessed those around her with homemade gifts and handwritten notes. These little acts of kindness said something bigger: you are important to me.

3. A job can be more than a place you go to collect a check. Monica worked as a math teacher and used it as a vehicle to show love to the people that God put in her path. One of her former students shared, with poise and confidence, how Monica would meet with her and a group of her classmates before school to talk about life and math. The young lady shared that she had never passed a math class before, but that Monica’s genuine care and interest in her made a big impact. While teaching was Monica’s job, it was also her mission field.

Last summer, I had the pleasure, along with my husband, of visiting Charlotte Mason’s beloved Lake District in England. One famous spot we visited was William Wordsworth’s home at Rydal Mount. He was planning on building a house for his daughter Dora in an adjoining field, but she died prematurely. In place of the house, he planted hundreds of daffodils in his daughter’s memory.

May the beauty of spring’s daffodils and Monica Boyd Ashworth’s life remind us to make the world around us better than how we found it.

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

Affectionately,

Krise