Making time to smell the flowers

Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them. – A.A. Milne

Reading my dear friend and mentor’s blog the other day made me sit and reflect on Mother’s Day and flower giving. Cindy’s blog, (found on my BlogRoll and here: www.laferle.com), was a simple post and a photo of the flowers she received from her son and soon-to-be-daughter-in-law.

My Mother’s Day arrangements have evolved as my children have grown older. I, too, received flowers. My youngest son gave me a beautiful hanging basket, and it touched my heart in so many ways. My husband had a rose, freshly cut from our yard, sitting in a vase next to my coffee and newspaper.
I believe my first experience in receiving flowers was from my dad. He never forgot to give my mom flowers on their anniversary and other special days. Every once in a while, he would surprise my sister and I with flowers on Valentine’s Day.

My husband does the same – he never forgets special dates and likes to surprise me with  bouquets. Every year on Valentine’s, he gets roses for our daughters, daughter-in-law, and our granddaughters. He also brought me the most beautiful flowers for the birth of each of our four children.

To me, no bouquet is sweeter than the handful of dandelions, picked with love by the chubby fingers of a toddler. Who smiles more, the giver? Or the receiver?

I still chuckle at the memory of my oldest son, who was about eight or nine-years-old, bringing me some of the most gorgeous hand-picked bouquets I had ever received from a child… until a neighbor (or was it his older sister?) alerted me that the flowers were coming from the garden of the dentist’s office down the street.

There is such beauty in seeing flowers in bloom. There is such a beauty in receiving flowers given with love, too.  The beauty of the flower compels us to pay it forward by sharing them with others.

When God created these living works of art, I am sure He knew they would touch more than our senses.

He knew they would touch our hearts.

Who smiles more? The Giver? Or the receiver?

© 2012 – Lynne Cobb

18 Replies to “Making time to smell the flowers”

  1. Nice post, Lynne. And nice way to think about flowers. However, I think you could make an entire a story out of this: “I still chuckle at the memory of my oldest son, who was about eight or nine-years-old, bringing me some of the most gorgeous hand-picked bouquets I had ever received from a child… until a neighbor (or was it his older sister?) alerted me that the flowers were coming from the garden of the dentist’s office down the street.” That is wonderful!

    1. Pam, there is definitely a story in there! LOL! After I found out where the flowers came from, I took a walk and casually looked at the dentist’s garden…I may want to out a few more years between the dentist’s retirement and going public on a story 🙂

  2. Aw, Lynne, I’m honored that you included me in your beautiful post today! (Thank you for the kind mention.) I am itching to get out there and start planting my annuals, and some new perennials in a couple of weeks.

    Your post reminded me of how my garden has become a green memoir of sorts. My ferns are reminders of my grandfather’s garden in Detroit (ditto my lilies of the valley) and many of my hosta plants are gifts and transplants from the gardens of my friends. I even have a chive plant that was started from my father-in-law’s garden …

    1. You are welcome, Cindy. I wish I had some of my great-grandmother’s hostas, or the roses and lilacs from my childhood home…wonder if I could send my son to get them… 🙂

  3. Congratulations, I’ve just nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award! Here is the link to the post where I wrote about it… httpsss://forhisgloryandpraise.wordpress.com/ !

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  6. I adore receiving flowers. There’s nothing that can lift my spirits like my husband walking through the door with a bouquet in hand.

  7. I love giving and receiving flowers, but even more, I love watching them grow in my garden. Beautiful post!

  8. I love flowers too. Can’t wait for spring tomorrow and for this winter to be over so I can plant some flowerpots.

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