After the snow, sleet and ice of winter, spring is a welcome season and one of new beginning. If you are like me, there is a feeling of elation as the sun slowly warms the earth. I eagerly search for the first buds. Perhaps it is a tree groaning with sap, sending new life to the branches, or a tulip leaf bravely searching for warmth as it peeks above ground, but when it happens, I rejoice. Spring is here!
Now is the time to come out of hibernation, buy seeds, prune vines, and start afresh. This is symbolic of our lives, after we have come through a period of winter in which loneliness, heartache, and grief plagued or stagnated us, we cherish each new glow of warmth. Or perhaps the winter of your life has been a time of contemplation and rest in which you felt you could catch your breath and relax.
Whatever way we view the winter time of life, spring will come. New relationships develop, projects which have overwhelmed us before, we now have the energy and courage to begin. Volunteer work, making new friends, swimming, golf, tennis, among other activities, are all ways we can use to break the barrier that kept us immune to the rest of society in “our winter”.
However spring may come, it requires work, and it is no different with our grief. In order to function again, we need to break the soil, smooth out the rough spots and fertilize in order to see new growth. At times, this may cause more hurt, but remember, just as in the garden, we will not see new growth without special effort on our part. So it is with our lives, we need to cultivate and weed to encourage a healthy garden. The areas which need fertilization get special care, while other areas seem to grow smoothly without effort on our part. As we rejoice in the spring of the year, and in each bud which appears, let’s appreciate the good moments and when hard or stagnant times come, affirm one another in love and share each other’s joy and burdens, HAPPY GARDENING TO YOU ALL!
~ Lorraine Weaver, TCF Ann Arundel, MD
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