Flowers

Jim took too long last night buying software, and showed up with two dozen roses, white and pink. I think he thinks he has to make up for the years he walked to work and there were no florists in town.

Early this morning I made three arrangements and, with the alstroemeria I picked up the other day it’s nearly more flowers than we can handle. The roses are gorgeous, opening fast and will be gone before the new year so must be enjoyed now.

For me, having fresh flowers is better than a Christmas tree, at least this year. Next year I may want to place my/our lifelong ornaments on a tree. My parents bought us each an ornament every year, labeled it and when we went away after college we got a box with our ornaments. What a wonderful way to keep memories.

Jim doesn’t have any, but I’ve been garnering two a year since we’ve married, each a different theme. OK, I bought two wooden socks, one blue and one green, the year we met, before marriage, because he was alone and needed a steak and baked potato and ornaments without a tree. Last year it was a Scottish lad and lass, this year a cowboy snowman and reindeer bearing a sheet of cookies.

My childhood ornaments are scattered but there are some with dates and I remember placing them on our tree. I’d love to see them all decorating a real tree.

Couples tell stories they remember, perhaps over and over. I think having an ornament from a certain year might bring up a new memory and topic.

I remember when my sister and I disturbed a beehive, when we recovered mice from the back of the Buick, and when my brother climbed the TV tower and wouldn’t come down. So many more. Time becomes more precious every day. Jim remembers riding Free, a dairy cow, and countless other stories.

So please keep cooking, for family and friends. And hand down your family recipes for traditions to continue. Dee