Peering Through Life's Window

  My husband gave me a rose. I added water and the preservative that came with the flower. The next day the flower’s stem drooped, the bloom tilting toward the kitchen table. However, I was busy and didn’t throw it away. When I walked in the room the next morning, the rose stood straight and proud in the vase. Puzzled, I leaned down and studied the flower. I checked it later that afternoon, then another time early in the evening. After five days, the rose still stood upright on its stem, its petals only aging a tiny bit around the edges. Then, the rose had my curiosity. To learn why the rose wilted so soon then perked up, I asked several friends, who are more knowledgeable about flowers than I am. They couldn’t explain it. Finally, I called a well-known florist in Georgia. The people there had never heard of a fresh flower sagging. Maybe I wasn’t meant to understand the rose, but simply to enjoy it. Sometimes I slump like the rose with the strength to stand tall nearly gone from me...