Most of the women I know, buy their own flowers when they want a bouquet of fresh flowers in their home, rather than wait to be given them.

But I will never forget a coworker I had back when I was a ripe 18 year old entering into the workforce, whose husband sent her flowers every Friday. When the delivery arrived at the office, I was there to receive it and they looked so pretty! I was so happy to take them to her. And she smiled and said, you can just set them down, and never really looked up or acknowledged them. I was so shocked, that pretty flowers like these were only given a mere glance. Then I thought they must have been apology flowers, and I wasn't going to go there with questions.

The following week, another beautiful bouquet of flowers came to the office and again, I took them to her. I jokingly entered her workspace and asked, secret admirer? With a prying grin, she humored me and said, "Just my husband! Every Friday he sends me flowers. It has been going on for years since we started dating." And I was completely in shock that anyone would get flowers delivered to them on a weekly basis by their spouse. The ones I brought her the week before must have made their way to the trash, or someone else's desk, because they were no longer in sight, and there was no way they would have expired in a week's time.

But I remember thinking, she didn't even care about them anymore. And I had a very melancholy feeling as I left them on her desk. I bet she didn't even read the card that accompanied them. And I realized, doing things for people on a schedule become routine and expected if they are not made special. I purchased a bouquet of flowers at the grocery store yesterday, since I haven't bought fresh flowers since our wedding at the end of June.

Once I cut the stems and arranged them in the vase, my face lit up and a smile just came over me. They were so pretty and delicate and vibrant that I instantly realized they were previously missing from my space. I placed them in the dining room, and I can see them from my office. For me, it feels polished. It feels like the perfect touch and reward to the previous weekend of purging and organizing. It says, I was not here before because the space was not ready for me--but now I'm here, take notice! And while I do not buy fresh flowers every Friday or expect them as a gift from my husband, I love that they still have the power to make me smile and fill the room with their presence and I can appreciate them. I never want to get to a point in life where fresh flowers lose their power to do that.

I write this post to admire the art in keeping some things special. In someways routine in our life is best, but when it becomes another check marked box to cross off the to do list, it perhaps diminishes its power.