Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Romance is a perennial, not an annual by Peggy Jaeger

This month's topic is Romance in Bloom. A cute theme since we are in the merry month of May when most of our country has flowers in bloom, or at least is starting to. Thankfully, Covid hasn't spread to plants.


 The months of April to June - typically what we refer to as Springtime - are when gardeners begin cultivating and planting the crops/flowers they want to grow. It's a time of birth and, in some cases, renewal, where we see perennial flowers come back from dormancy and hibernation. If you know anything about gardening, you recognize that annuals are plants or crops you plant once a year, they grow, and then they die. If you want to see them again next year, you have to plant them again next year. Perennials are flowers that come back year after year - if you take care of them, that is. Nothing grows from neglect.

I tend to think romance and love are perennials.

Let me 'esplain.

People celebrate the "date" something happened in varying ways. Wedding anniversaries come around once a year. The date is fixed and there are some that are 'celebrated' more than others, such as years 1, 5, 10, 25...you get the picture. Once per year you make a big fuss over the date you got hitched. I got married on December 26, 1987, the day after Christmas ( also another day we celebrate once a year)

Some celebrate the day they had their first date. For me it was October 27,1993. I'll never forget the date because it was close to Halloween ( another perennial event).

Engagements are another date people tend to remember and celebrate - or at least think of. I got engaged on New Year's Eve 1996. ( Again, another date we celebrate once a year - see a pattern here yet?)

So, why do I see romance as  perennial?

Easy.

Here's the Webster's definition of perennial: lasting or existing for a long or apparently infinite time; enduring or continually recurring. 


Doesn't that sound like the kind of love and romance you want in your life? Or are lucky enough to have? Lasting for infinity. Enduring. Recurring.

Sounds good to me, no?

I received some very sound advice from an elderly patient who happened to be a florist, long ago right before I got married. He told me that the secret to staying happy in marriage for eternity ( he'd been married 60+ years) was to do  3 things:  weed out the little problems before they overgrew and took over,  always talk to one another ( he believed in talking and singing to his flowers) and cultivate the relationship daily by always remembering that love was a living force and needed to be cared for, otherwise it would wither and die.

Sound advice that I took to heart. And because of it, my marriage has lasted 33 years. If that's not the definition of perennial....

And speaking of love, my newest book released last week. VANILLA WITH A TWIST is a sweet romance about a small town, single parent,  the choices she's made in her life, and an engineer at a crossroads in his who walks into her ice cream parlor one summer day and changes her life - and his - forever.
And don't forget to enter our monthly giveaway here: GEMS IN BLOOM



Now, go care for and cultivate your relationships!

Until next month, lovely readers ~ Peg




26 comments:

  1. I love this concept--and I think you're absolutely right.

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    1. Thanks Liz, especially since i so rarely am!!! hee hee

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  2. The advice you were given was wonderful...and true! Love the cover for Vanilla with a Twist- wishing you many sales!

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    1. Bonnie - that older gent was a true wonder. At 92 he'd been married over 60 years and was still so in love with his wife that I remember crying when I saw them together. Happy tears!

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  3. This is great!! And I remember my first date with hub was April 13, -which turned out to be the date my first born daughter got married!!

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    1. Serendipity!!! love that. And a date you will never forget for so many reasons!!

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    1. Kathleen - thank you. I think this is one of my fav covers ever!

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  5. Lovely post, and how true! I've been married for 47 years now.

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    1. Oh, Ilona that is wonderful!!!!!! Esp. since you're only 30 years old ( As am I! heehee)

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  6. I always think of the date of our first date as it approaches. I think back how exciting it was and that rush you get when you're with someone you want to be with.

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    1. So Nora, don't just think about it....celebrate it!! Even in quarantine, hee hee

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  7. In the Garden of Love, Romance is a perennial. Pardon the flowery prose. I couldn't resist. I do believe in everlasting love, but I think romance takes a bit of fertilizer and watering along the way. *g*

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    1. Yup! Like all things that you want to grow, you need to nurture them

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  8. Here's to love, my friend! It's all about the love. Congratulations on your latest release!

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  9. A LOVE-ly post, Peggy. I agree that we have to nurture our love. I'm lucky enough to have found my soulmate. Best wishes for VANILLA WITH A TWIST.

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    1. Awww, Caroline, I love when I hear people say that!!! here's to soulmates because they are the very definition of perennials!

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  10. Beautiful post! Parallels my own life on a few levels. :)

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    1. Maddie -isn't it funny how with writers, that's more often the case than not? Bless you!

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  11. I love this comparison! You are exactly right. And how lucky you were to receive that advice. It's good to hear and good to live by.

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  12. Kara - I really do think of that old gent often, especially around my anniversary.

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  13. I've always said you have to treat marriage (or a relationship/friendship, like a garden. That is how I've tended my "garden" and we just celebrated our 55th anniversary. Great post.

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    1. Elizabeth WOW and CONGRATS!!!! You are a very good "Gardner" hee hee!

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