A bunch of flowers in a one liter plastic soda bottle

A friend was kind and thoughtful enough to give me a bunch of flowers last Saturday and they have lasted the entire week and are still going strong. He purposely chose a bunch of five flowers that had three that were still unopened. That was a great idea because it extended the life of the flowers and it was fun to see them open up a little each day. I put the flowers on my dining room table and that resulted me in having to clean off the table (covered with paperwork) and then keep it clean the rest of the week. This was smart on my part because it committed me to keeping at least one area of my home (yes, a very small one but one none the less) uncluttered.

The first few days the flowers made the whole room smell like Spring. Every time I walked past them I felt happier and thought favorably of my friend. He will not know how much his gesture meant to me or how much it really gave to me throughout the week. At times I marveled at how a simple bunch of inexpensive flowers could result in so much good but they did. I made a point of eating at the dining room table and doing my paperwork there too. Everything in the room seemed to perk up a bit - the tired, old furniture looked less worn.

I packed up all my nice crystal vases in anticipation of moving and have never unpacked them so had no vase in which to put the flowers. I ended up using a one liter plastic soda bottle and the flowers still looked beautiful. Somehow I liked the flowers even more because they were in that makeshift vase. I became inspired to crochet and then felt a covering to go over the bottle so future flowers will look a little more classy. I enjoyed selecting a yarn from my stash and finding a pattern. Those flowers took me in many directions including getting me to sit down and take a few minutes out of the past few days to work on my vase.

It is hard not to be able to currently indulge in "little pretties" that I so much took for granted just a year ago. No more running to Bath and Body Works for a new Spring fragrance or "tossing" a bunch of flowers in the cart while I'm shopping for weekly groceries. Not having these expected luxuries made the unexpected flowers worth that much more. I want to promise myself that when things get better and stabilize financially, that I will always have a bunch of flowers on the table.

Today I am grateful:

1. For the man who gave me the flowers.
2. For simple gestures that result in huge payoffs.
3. For the gift of the flowers which ended up inspiring me, comforting me, giving me hope and becoming a beacon of beauty in a home where there is so much worry and uncertainty.