Inner Beauty

This sweet little orchid has been so very happy. I have always loved orchids. Such elegant beauty wrapped up in sensitive mystery. In college I would dreamily look at them in stores always too afraid to bring one home. Not long after marriage I bought one. We had an apartment in DC and getting an orchid seemed like an adult type of plant. While I did my best to make that orchid happy it eventuality withered away. Years passed and my dreamy goal of tending orchids that would bloom and flourish lingered in my memory. Yet I never had enough courage to bring one home. Then one day I was at the local chain home improvement store getting something we needed. As usual I went to admire the orchids. All the colors and lovely blooms. It was hard not to feel happy seeing them lined up row after row. As I wandered the aisle I found the end cap with discount plants. I am a sucker for discount plants. I noticed this forlorn looking orchid its blooms drooping and its leaves starting to brown. Sadness. I looked at the price tag. Once an $8 plant was now 50 cents. I decided it needed someone to believe in its beauty. Fast forward two years later and this sweet little orchid will bloom twice a year for me. Since then I have rescued two more orchids. They too bloom biannually. Sometimes all it takes is for someone to have the courage to cultivate the inner beauty you have yet to bloom.