Gratitude Practice 2020 Day 104: A Restorative Beginning

I pray for these little buds all year long. I pray that they will root deeply and grow strong under my novice gardening skills. I pray that they will triumphantly survive a harsh winter. I pray that they will muster the courage to emerge from their dark safe home year after year like they did in my mother's and my grandmother's gardens. I pray they will flourish under my watch so my Sarah Kate will one day plant them at her house and teach her daughter to love them as much as I do. Every spring my heart explodes with gratitude and relief when the first one triumphantly blooms. Its always a purple Iris somewhere in my front yard and normally in a shy little corner. Every time these bright purple petals burst into the world they somehow propell and restore my faith that all is once again well with the world. This spring, when so much of the world seems to be in full blown chaos, these silly little flowers somehow mean so much more. Grateful for Bert, and Emily and Emily Ann and for their example of persistent under pressure. Grateful for these front and backyard reminders of their love and knowing of me. Tonight, grateful to be both rooted and blooming all at the same time.