I love flowers – and I love having them in the house.

But, when you’re on a tight budget, they are a bit frivolous.

So, for awhile now, a child in the neighborhood has been coming to our house on Friday afternoon, asking if we want to buy flowers. He’s in sixth grade, and clearly very industrious (he works for someone older and he gets to keep 25% of whatever he sells). I’ve been turning him away for months because we really don’t NEED flowers.

But then, one day, we must have been having company and I said “yes” to him. And after that, when he knocked, I started to feel badly. It was winter, and he was shlepping the flowers in the rain, wind and snow (ok – not the snow, really, but you get the idea).

So, I started buying flowers more often. And then, last week, he showed up, smiled, and said “I saved your favorite flowers for you.”

I don’t recall telling him what my favorite flowers were – but there, in his hand, was a gorgeous purple bouquet filled with some of my favorite flowers. And I just had to laugh. The kid’s got game.

So, this week, when he came to the door, I couldn’t believe the bouquet that he had to offer. And even more so, I couldn’t believe that no one had snapped it up yet!

I love sunflowers.

And here was a vibrant, amazing bouquet of sunflowers.

I’ve been admiring those beautiful flowers ever since. I marvel that something so simple – so mundane – can bring me so much joy and can light up the house with such an aura of health and happiness. If only such little things could always fix our pain, create an aura of health and put a smile on our faces.

And while nothing can work miracles of this sort, it sure is lovely to have found a way to enjoy momentary joy from some of the more simple things in life.