It is astonishing how nourishing a small piece of beauty can be. 

 

One morning glory, which is vastly outnumbered by the man made portion of this New York vista, offers up a dose of loveliness that draws my eyes in and softens my heart. I would wager that you too, gazed first at its azure petals, rather than the dozens of teetering steel steps, hundred or so closed windows, or thousands of sun baked bricks. It does not make sense that a fragile blossom could wield more influence than the towering tenements that surround it to reign in our attention and hold it, like a song amidst the cacophony of traffic. 

 

A lone flower is enough to make this picture worth taking. It will only bloom a short while, though your memory of it can last much longer.

 

Your marriage has beauty in it, though perhaps it feels overshadowed by a fifty minute commute, or choices that don't open, or thousands of chores lined up like a wall to the sky. Yet the elegance of a simple kindness, offered as unpretentiously as this annual, is enough to make one day worth living. It may only last a short while, but your memory of it can last much longer.

Photo by Chara Odhner

www.caringformarriage.org