Remember that old ballad about always looking for a silver lining?

It sounds corny and most people don't look for a silver lining in every situation. They just look for a way to survive it and go on from there.But what I've noticed the past few weeks is how many bad situations also bring a glimmer of good.It was a grapefruit tree, of all things, that brought this message home to me. I went through so many conflicting emotions because of that tree. I started with gratitude, slipped into anger then graduated to regret.In our southwest Florida area, many people have citrus trees in their backyard. I had an orange tree in mine with the most incredibly sweet fruit. Even people who have their own orange trees commented on the sweetness of the oranges on my prolific tree.My next-door neighbor had a grapefruit tree that she so generously shared with me. "Don't be afraid to come over and pick grapefruit any time you want," she offered.Many mornings I took her up on it, walking next door to pick one plump grapefruit for breakfast. That was the gratitude part of my story.One morning I looked outside and saw a strange man in my yard with a clipboard. When I saw he was intently examining my orange tree, I went to see what was going on.He showed me his credentials and told me there had been an outbreak of citrus disease in the state. Explaining how it can spread rapidly from yard to yard, he said the only way to stop it was to carefully remove a tree with the disease. Fortunately, my orange tree was fine.Unfortunately, my neighbor's grapefruit tree that I loved so much was not. He noted how half the branches were dying and said it would take over the entire tree. It had to be removed, he said, leaving behind literature for the neighbor.The tree kept dying but my neighbor decided to keep it, believing that as long as some branches still produced fruit, the tree was healthy.The inspector proved to be right about how citrus disease spread. A while later the wonderful orange tree in my backyard contracted the disease. I could no longer deny why some of the branches were bare.I did the responsible thing and contacted a professional to have the tree removed. And to tell the truth, although I never voiced it to my neighbor, I was angry with her. If she would have removed her diseased tree, perhaps it would not have spread.So my tree was gone while her totally bare, diseased tree remained. Here's the crazy part of the story the glimmer of good that came from that tree.For reasons I could never understand, birds loved that bare tree. They remained there singing their little hearts out all day long.Each morning, I had the pleasure of waking to a welcoming chorus of birds performing in that bare tree. Each evening, when the other birds had bedded down for the night, that grapefruit tree still had a few songbirds. I loved sitting outside each night listening to their evening lullaby.Sometimes, when friends visited and sat outside with me, they commented on how the birds seemed to prefer that dead old tree.I certainly saw that the tree had a grand purpose and I no longer resented that it was still there. In fact, I was grateful the tree remained to bring so many wonderful birds for my visual pleasure.Well, my next-door-neighbor sold her home. The new owners were there a few weeks when they made improvements to the landscaping. That meant they had the old grapefruit tree removed.I have to admit their yard does look nicer. But the birds that loved to stay in the old tree disappeared. It's been three weeks and I greatly regret the loss of the tree and the birds.That grapefruit tree saga made me think about the number of times something bad has a good side.I met a woman at a luncheon this week who told us about having a terrible car accident while driving north by herself. She had to be hospitalized for three weeks then had to go to physical therapy."There I was," she said, "all by my myself in a strange area far from friends and family. When the staff realized I had no one, they came to sit with me and brought their church group to cheer me on to recovery. They were total strangers but I have never felt so loved."She told us the experience changed her in a positive way. "I realize the power of a little kindness and I try to bring that to others," she said.Another young woman who had a brain tumor removed was left with some physical problems because of it. But she says she also gained so much because of that experience."I no longer fret a day of life away. When you realize how precious life is and how it can suddenly be taken from you, it changes you in many good ways," she told me. "I never waste a day."Not every problem has a silver lining, of course. But it's amazing how often that silver lining lurks then pops up when we least expect it.