I first read this story many years ago in a book about the stories and myths behind flower from all parts of the world. I don't remember any of those stories, except for the one about chicory. I've always had a love for chicory; it grows along the sides of roads and highways and has very few leaves, so when the flowers close, the stalks are hard to see. I'm always amazed to see them in the mornings getting severely buffeted by passing cars. Somehow, they survive along busy highways and despite mowers attempts to rid the roadsides of them. In the horticulture world, they are considered a weed and a nuisance because once established, they are difficult to remove and keep growing back. They are a simple, hardy plant with a delicate beauty. They are one of my favorite flowers. After I read the myth surrounding it, I fell more in love with them. I believe you will too.

A long time ago, a sailor and his wife lived along the sea. The sailor often left with his ship to sail the seas and to provide for him and his wife, but he always returned home to his beloved wife. While he was away, the wife awaited his return along the road, gazing out to sea hoping to glimpse his ship returning to her. One day, he left for the ship, leaving his loving wife behind. She missed him dearly, but held onto the hope and joy of his return. As he sailed along, a storm came, tossing his ship to and fro. Lightening and thunder roared above. The waves crashed relentlessly against the ship, ripping it to shreds. The ship and all the men aboard it sunk to the depths of the sea, never to return. The wife, unaware of her husband's misfortune, waiting along the road every day for her husband who would never return. She waited and waited. Waited and waited. Yet, he still did not return. She gazed at the ocean, pining for a glimpse of a ship upon the waves. Yet, she saw nothing day after day. The gods looked down upon her and pitied her. The women who loved her husband so much, but who would never see him again. The gods, knowing of her suffering, transformed her into a blue flower (chicory), so the wife could wait along the road for her beloved husband forever.