What can I say? I was young and naive. I simply couldn’t help myself. It was an attraction beyond attractions….. It truly was love at first sight. My first love affair has lasted for decades. In fact, it is the longest love affair of my life.
Even as a small child, my love affair was quite evident. Mrs. Horowitz, an elderly neighbor, knew I waa smitten just from looking at me. She could see it in my eyes as I passed her house. Mrs. Horowitz was wise when it came to love. After all, Rabbi and Mrs. Horowitz were married for over 50 years, and I was just a child of six. Mrs. Horowitz knew my heart. She sensed something different in me. A love beyond my youth. Mrs. Horowitz took a chance on me, and invited me down to their house. Just to look…..
To gaze upon beauty.
To look upon my ideal.
To dream.
To wish I had what she had.
It was, after all, my first love affair.
When you love deeply for the first time, you never get over it. I still remember gazing upon my love for the first time…..
The rose arbor was simply magical. The flowers and roses grew gracefully throughout the entire garden, giving off a fragrance I had smelled only in my dreams. The colors were mesmerizing…burned into my soul.. I was young and naive. I truly could not contain myself.
Mrs. Horowitz knew my childlike desire, and always greeted me with a pair of scissors and a vase. She helped me cut roses properly, and talked to me about flowers. She knew my love affair would grow stronger with the right words patience and time.. Mrs. Horowitz groomed me into the gardener I am today. She poured old-time garden wisdom into me as if I were one of her beloved oses receiving a drink from her compost tea.
I will never forget my first love affair, and the enchanting rose garden of my childhood. The awe and inspiration I felt when I looked upon such beauty is forever burned into my memory. My first love affair stays with me, and continues to shape my life. I desire to give others that same awe and inspiration I felt. I strive to make a world a more beautiful place….even if it is for just one child.
On this Valentine’s Day, I hope that you can rekindle your garden love. Find a rose garden to gaze upon and plant your own dreams. Live life to the fullest and love passionately without ceasing. Invest in new varieties of flower seeds and dig a new garden plot. May you find a new love affair through the beauty of flowers.
Happy Gardening, my friends. May love follow you and the days of your life.