Petal to the metal: On the hunt for my floral soul mate
I’ve been thinking about my favorite flower and how I no longer have one.
As a child, I loved yellow roses. I’m not sure why, except that my mom’s favorite color was yellow and that probably informed my choice. Isn’t it funny how, as children, we absorb even the smallest things, like preference for color?
When I was in my 20s, I loved tulips. On our first date, my now ex-husband (and father of my child) brought tulips to my doorstep when he picked me up. The gesture was sweet, but I couldn’t help but notice, as we walked past, that the tulips in front of the courthouse a block away were missing.
Yes, he picked them from the ground at the Allegheny Federal Courthouse in Pennsylvania. (Apologies to the sweet town of Hollidaysburg.)
A few years later there were pastel colored tulips in my bouquet for our spring wedding. They were perfect for the occasion. I even had them dried and preserved in a glass box.
The thing no one told me about divorce is that you I would have to give up a lot of favorites. For me, it was tulips. They’re still beautiful but they are no longer my favorite.
Where is that glass box of flowers now? I could not tell you.
