I'm posting this for the first time on DU. This flower has a history in my family. Explained below.
This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by Yonnie3 (a host of the The Way Forward forum).
From the first time my dad took me fishing when I was five, this flower has marked a yearly event.
Every year, with the sighting of the first Dandelion, we would communicate about the sighting.
It was and still is a biological cue that the fish we like to target were "running" in the tidal waters in Wareham, MA.
No matter where he was or I was (away in the USAF), we would call each other to say the dandelions are in bloom, which was code for "time to go fishing". I have told this story before, perhaps even here on DU in the past.
Now, 73 years later, the message comes, but not just from each other; it now comes from dozens of my family and friends, no matter where they live.
My dad passed away in 1999, but the message continues to come every year. Now, with the advent of cellphones, the message often comes in the form of a picture—just a picture.
I know, and the sender knows how much that memory means to me. "Time to go fishing!"
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My dad's been gone for 13 years. I'm the girl tomboy who always went fishing with him. But I would not put a worm on a hook. 
Thanks for sharing this lovely story. From now on, when I see dandelions, you know what I'll be thinking.
I have a memory of my dad, and dandelions, too. He’d had me a putty knife, and tell me to go dig the damn things out of the yard.
....where to start, where to end. I'm shooting for 100. 
