Tulips Blooming

The tulips are blooming in my backyard. There are beautiful tulips on my counter, an anniversary gift from my honey yesterday. Today I went to Trader Joe's to pick up flowers for a friend whose father passed away. We walked in and Noble ran up and said "Look Mom, TWO LIPS!" He was standing in front of some potted tulips in bloom.

Tulips seem to be blooming in my heart. I feel the gentle bending of the stems in strange familiar ways. I can almost touch the softly opening petals in their delicate perfection. I can sense the depth within the bud sheltered from the elements of the everyday.

Each year seems to go by faster than the one before. Here we are again approaching the Easter season. Another anniversary, another birthday here and there, another April conference weekend. And again the tulips bloom.

This is life in my thirties. It is filled with the exhausting daily routine of young children and their endless needs. I am in constant wonder at the growing beauties I call my children. I want to freeze them in time and hold them in my arms and nibble their ears and toes and drink in the smell of them fresh out of the bath. And yet, I welcome the growing maturity and development I see as my girls get older.

Life in my thirties is good. It has not been all roses. No. There have been dark days. There have been times I wondered if I would ever feel the full warmth of the sun again. But I have found my way through the cold hard winter. And it has helped the tulips bloom once again.