In the 21 years of my second marriage, I can count on one hand the number of times I got a bouquet of fresh flowers for no reason. As a matter of fact, I can count on one finger. It happened once in all that time. I understand why. For one thing, we didn’t have the money for it till the later years. For another, I was married to a man whose idea of romance was best demonstrated in his marriage proposal delivered during the commercial break of an Audie Murphy movie one Saturday afternoon.

“So…you wanna get married?”

“I’m sorry…what?”

“I’m not sayin’ it twice.”

Ummmmm…yeah, sure. That’d be great. No, romance was not his strong suit. So, after we separated, I bought myself a beautiful bouquet of fresh cut flowers every week for five years. I was making up for lost time. Nothing extravagant…just a little bouquet picked up in the produce section of the grocery store. I don’t ask for much.

Then Mr. Virgo came along. He brought me flowers a lot. Not every week. But he would often buy me a white orchid that would bloom for weeks. And when it died, he bought me another one. He was good about that. And cards? Man…that guy could buy a card that was absolutely guaranteed to make me cry like a little girl. I mean like snotty mess cry. That’s a real man right there.

After Mr. Virgo died, I stopped getting flowers. No more sweet bouquets from the case at the grocery store. Oh, there have been a couple of suitors along the way who were kind enough to bring me a bouquet or two. Then, when I started staying out at the farm, I decided it was flower time again. All white bouquets are my favorite. I love the clean, elegance of the white blooms against the green of the foliage. It appeals to my inner Grace Kelly. It’s a tiny indulgence that packs a big punch in the joy department.

This week’s bouquet was still so pretty when I left that I didn’t want to leave it to die alone. I toted it with me to Columbus and up to my hotel room Wednesday night. Then, when I changed hotels yesterday morning, I totally forgot it in the room! Bummer. I hope someone gets to enjoy it. I’ll get another next week.

❤️

““Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭12:27‬ ‭NIV‬‬