stopping to smell the flowers

well, my mom left today. it was a teary goodbye. i am trying not to be too sad though. i will try to make it out next month to see her.

i went over to the big garden with kevin this afternoon just after it had rained. the house next to the big garden is full of iris, roses, and peonies. i did not know until my mom's visit that irises smell amazing! i always assumed that since they were such decorative flowers that they probably didn't smell that pleasant. while my mom was here, we were taking a walk and she stopped to smell an iris and told me that iris was one of her favorite scents. so i smelled one, and they are incredible! while i was waiting for kevin to be done building his fence, i noticed that some of the flowers had raindrops still on them, and it was beautiful. so i took a couple pictures with my cell phone. i bent to smell all the flowers and had kevin come join me. it reminded me of my mom. i am glad that she is helping me stop and smell the flowers and realize how precious and amazing life is. no one knows when their time comes to pass from this life, so do yourself a favor and go smell some flowers while you still can.

here's to you, mom!