37 Roses for 37 Years of Married Life

Sometimes in life, special things happen to us that make us feel lucky to be alive.

One of those happenings occurred for me this week.  Tuesday marked 37 years since my husband and I got married. In some ways, it seemed like yesterday since we said our vows yet, in other ways, the 37 years felt like they made their mark in our lives.

Coming home from a business class, I walked into the kitchen and found a vase filled with 37 roses! Yes, there was one rose for every single year we have been married.

     


"The colors are mixed," my sweet husband said, "just as the years have been mixed."

 Some years brought immense blessings, including the births of our two precious (now adult) children. Other years almost broke us apart since there were so many disappointments, struggles, and seemingly unsolvable problems. Like the flowers in that big old vase, we rallied through.

In the bouquet are my favorite pink roses, sunshiny yellow, and pristine white.  They are interspersed with baby's breath and greenery.

My heart continues to overflow with love for my husband, with whom I've spent more than half my life.
He is faithful, generous, kind, loving, and warm-hearted.  With the humblest of hearts, I can say that my life is richly blessed and for that, I am deeply grateful.

If anyone were to ask me the "secret" of staying married to the same man for 37 years, my answer would come without hesitation. It would be to keep Almighty God at the center of your marriage. Turn all problems over to Him and give Him thanks for all the rich blessings that the years will bring.

With deep joy, I share the roses with each of you, dear readers, and  hope that seeing such beauty will lift your spirits on this day of life.

Roses: Flowers for the Heart, Mind, and Soul!

On more  Valentine Days  than I care to think about,  came deliveries of flowers from my son, who lives thousands of miles away.

This year, however, he is a married man and there was no expectation, on my part, of flowers. He has a wife, now, and, rightfully so, she should receive  roses.  However, the doorbell rang on Valentine's Day. The delivery person held a large box filled with multi-colored roses from my son and my daughter-in-law!

Tears filled my eyes and spilled down my cheeks as I looked at their astonishing beauty.  A young couple starting out,  my son and daughter-in-law certainly could have used their money for other things but still, my heart filled with love and gratitude for their sweet and precious gift.

A very dear friend had given me an old-fashioned glass pitcher that she picked up in a thrift store. It would make a perfect container, much nicer than a vase.

So the roses now adorn the kitchen table.  The white crocheted tablecloth placed on top of a red one also came from a thrift store!  See all the lovely things one can find on-the-cheap? No one would ever know any of the things shown in this post were thrifted!

Each day when I come into the kitchen, my first glance at the roses brings smiles and ecstasy to my mother's heart.

Truly, there are so many magnificent flowers in our world but, to me, roses are the number one beauties.

So here are photos of them to share with you, my very dear and special readers, along with a few little sayings about roses.

                                                  "Rose! Thou art the sweetest flower

                                                   That ever drank the amber shower.

                                                    Even the Gods, who walk the sky,

                                                   Are amorous of thy scented sigh."

                                                                       Thomas Moore

"The scent of a rose is enough to embue a woman with wordless, sibylline poetry,

as if she were younger by ten centuries." 

                  Colette

"Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns;

I am thankful that thorns have roses."

         Alphonse Karr (French writer and editor)

ARE ROSES YOUR FAVORITE FLOWERS?

Joining Linda's Junkin Friday and Cindy's Show and Tell Friday!  Be sure to check out Linda's unique blog, A La Carte . http://ljm-alacarte.blogspot.com/  for great Junkin Friday finds!


Also allot time to stop by Cindy's enchanting blog, My Romantic Home, http://romantichome.blogspot.com/  to see some of the other entries for Show and Tell Friday.