Perfect Love

Although different tulip colors carry distinct meanings - yellow tulips symbolizing cheerful thoughts, white conveying forgiveness and purple representing royalty - a Turkish legend may be responsible for the red tulip's symbolism. The story goes that a prince named Farhad was love struck by a maiden named Shirin. When Farhad learned that Shirin had been killed, he was so overcome with grief that he killed himself - riding his horse over the edge of a cliff. It's said that a scarlet tulip sprang up from each droplet of his blood, giving the red tulip the meaning "perfect love."



When faced with the daunting decision as to what flower(s) I wanted to carry down the aisle on my wedding day, I was stumped. I've never felt strongly about one particular flower because of course, any flower is nice as far as I'm concerned. And so, after discovering that in the "flower culture" certain flowers are known to have symbolism and meaning, I quickly arrived at the decision to carry tulips. Although I don't think Chris chose them on purpose, the tulips that I discovered on my kitchen table Sunday morning meant more to me that any other flower could have.

However, how many women can boast that they not only received a bouquet of tulips but also some under-cabinet lighting for Valentine's Day?




Our plans that day were to head to Hanson for a turkey dinner which we were all pretty pumped about. Maeve was so pumped, she decided to accessorize the top of her head with some mouse ears and insisted that her Dad do the same. Getting out the door these days is pretty hectic as we strap the kids in and make certain we have all their diaper bags. As we settled in to our two vehicles to make the trip north, I noticed Chris jump out of the truck to grab something inside. What he came out with, was his headband which Maeve had presented to him earlier. He placed it on his head, strapped himself in and gave me the thumbs-up sign as he and Maeve backed out of the driveway in the pick-up truck. Michael and I followed behind and most of my trip was spent giggling every time I caught a glance of my husband and his headband. But the best part for me, and a reminder for me of why I love Chris so fiercely, was when he pulled into a gas station and very confidently began pumping gas - headband in place. I love you Chris for all that you do to make our lives better and for all that you are. Don't ever change a thing, not even your headband.