Our first year of marriage was wonderful!  We had had a long distance romance for two years–weekly phone calls at best, lots of letter writing, six to eight visits a year–so we were happy to be together!  We rented a huge, old civil war-era house on a little acreage in Missouri, had a large garden and our two horses, and made some special friends.  In year two or three of our marriage, I remember looking back on our first year and realizing, in hindsight, how difficult it had been!  It had been a struggle to figure out who I was as a person, who he was as a person, and who we were as a couple.

There were many wonderful things that have happened in the last six months–especially the wedding of our daughter in October.  We have had visits with family and friends and have skated through a mild winter weather-wise.  But looking back on this late fall and winter, I realize that it has also been one of those difficult times.  So when I walked out the driveway this morning and saw the crocuses blooming, I nearly wept for joy.  They are so beautiful and colorful after a dull, lifeless, difficult season.

Somebody must have been equally delighted with the delicate crocuses, as this one had been munched on already.

Crocuses are the first flower to bloom in the spring, often when snow is still on the ground.  They are a symbol of the awakening of Nature, an uplifting sign of hope.  They are also associated with the first Valentine’s Day when Valentinus, a third century Roman physician and devout Christian priest, gave a note wrapped with a yellow crocus containing the healing herb saffron to a blind patient of his.  He had been jailed and sentenced to death because of his Christianity. Legend has it that her sight was restored upon receiving the flower and note signed ‘from your Valentine’ on February 14, 270 AD.  A symbol of faith, hope, and love–the triad that helps us discover our true selves, guides couples through the struggles of life, walks with people when they bury a loved one, and soothes the pain of lost children and friends.  I weep for Joy and send you Love.