The following short story is 100% fiction, but it’s a theme I’ve been thinking about a lot after having dinner with a girlfriend whose marriage has hit a rocky patch. There is no indiscretion and she’s seen the piece before I showed it to you …. As always when I publish fiction, I beg your indulgence. I don’t pretend to be a great writer, I simply love to tell a tale.
They talked a little longer and before Louise put the phone down she muttered “Thank you, I’ll think about it” .. and so she had. Non-stop ever since.
By the end of the week she found the telephone number for Tom’s hotel. “Everything all right ?”, his voice was surprised and concerned “you don’t normally call me like this”
“Oh yes Tom, everything’s fine, I was just thinking about you, wondered how you were and when… when are you coming home”
“Tom, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking this week, and working in the garden too. You’ll see a big difference. It’s lovely to feel that spring is on its way. I have great plans for the garden, I was hoping you’d be pleased, that … that we could maybe work on it together. Remember? Like we used to”
37 comments
Sharon, Agay, thank you for your thought provoking & inspiring words! I think, as we enter into another phase of married life, we come to that “fork in the road, where we need to take stock in ourselves in order to choose which path to take. Your lovely story will help many of us to slow down to think before we make the choice.
Again = Agay in spell-check
Love your blogs. The flowers are so soothing to the soul. I would recommend your going to You Tube and find Tim Spell singing “When God unfolds the rose”. It is beautiful.
Such a sweet story with so many truths. Thank you, Sharon!
A lovely story that strikes at the heart of my place in life. I am in a trough and uncertain if my husband will care to garden at all. his choice. I will continue to tend it alone if need. xx-hb
Bonjour, j’aime énormément votre blog si élégant. J’aimerai vous poser une question. Savez vous s’il est possible de trouver en France ces meubles de salle de bains vanity tellement jolis dans les salle de bains américaines ? Un grand merci d’avance.
Et bravo pour votre merveilleux sens esthétique, c’est un enchantement de découvrir vos photos et articles.
Bien à vous. Sophie
Lovely Story as always Sharon. Thank you,
now I must go tend the garden.
I loved your beautiful story! You have such a gift, so please keep writing and sharing!!!
Absolutely charming!! Thank you for this gift! Can you imagine how many of us, your readers, are at just this age? I read this looking out over the ocean with my husband of 37 years just feet away. We are reveling in this time after our children have launched but it has taken conscious effort on both our parts to rediscover and reinvent our long marriage. Do you ever read the “Modern Love” column in the Sunday New York Times? I loved last Sunday’s column and shared it with my husband and children. The author said she has been married three times but all to the same man–one was pre-children, one during child-raising, and now the one after the children were off inventing their own lives. I loved that way of thinking about this subject. Thank you, again, for this story and I believe you to be a VERY GIFTED writer and story-teller.
Sharon loved this beautiful allegory – keep writing! Anne – yes to that reference about being married three times to the same man! So true – we are on our 35th year.
I think sometimes we get complacent in our marriages and it takes continued effort to keep the connection alive!
xo Susan
Like everything you do, this story is beautiful, with deeper truths tugging at the heart, just beneath the lovely surface.
Hi Sharon,
Amazing story, I was able to capture every small detail about it, very well said. A life translated in to a garden.
You are a writer!
Thank you for a story that invited me into reflection.
Wow! Thank you for sharing your story. It was well received and needed by me as I’m sure many others. A new spring has now sprung. Thank you so much!
I absolutely love your stories, and this one was a good reminder to work on what we have, so please keep them coming. To see one in my inbox is a lovely start to my day. Thanks.
Dear Sharon, what a beautiful story! Who knew!…comparing the garden to our lives! You are truly a gifted writer. This story brought tears to my eyes…I hope there’s more to the story. My husband travels too and we are in the Twilight of our lives and the garden is a nice place to nurture when he and the kids no longer need my nurturing. Thank you for your lovely insight. Bless you. I’m sure you also helped so many others. Be well….
What a lovely short story. I can’t wait for the collection gathered in a small hard-cover, illustrated by your gorgeous photos. 😉
Love your story Sharon. You do have a gift. I think this resonates with anyone in a marriage, and even those who are not. Life constantly gives us “gardens” to tend to whether it is love, friendship, or hardships. We are the masters of our gardens, and I think we all sometimes forget that, myself included, especially when it becomes overrun with “weeds.” Thank you for sharing.
Loved reading your story. I really like you analogy of tending a garden and a marriage. It’s definitely thought provoking.
I can see another beautiful story unfolding Sharon. Your writing is enchantment to my soul. X
A very true sentiment in your story. Marriage needs constant nurturing, but it is usually only once the hamster wheel has slowed down a little, later in life, that we can turn our full focus to it again. My husband and I took a leap of faith in my 60th year and moved to a country village into an old beamed cottage, something we’d always wanted to do. It was scary and exciting at the same time. Since then, we have created a beautiful home and completely ‘undid’ the garden and re designed it to suit our needs and lifestyle. We have almost finished and we can’t wait to be able to just enjoy the fruits of our labours with our friends and family. But there is a part of me that misses the creativity and planning, so, I shall find new ways to fill that need and with my husband retiring in a few months, we plan to make the most of the freedom; time to walk in the countryside, visit new places and enjoy our grandchildren together. It’s been a hard slog over the last 6 years, but worth it. A new phase beckons……
awww i just love this one. sweet and bittersweet. i am choosing a different path in my garden… but lovely, nonetheless. you are a good writer, sharon! xo
LOVE YOUR STORIES! Thank you for every word.
The flow and content always excite and make me want to read your lines forever.
“Yay!” I said, when I saw your story in my inbox. I too am entering a new and hopefully happier phase. I lost my father in November, my brother 5 weeks ago and now my mom and I are looking for a house together. (My idea, because they both lived with her in a tri-level house!) My husband is an invalid so this would make my life SO much simpler. The thing that excites me the most is starting a garden! I’ve already been dreaming, which makes me more hopeful for the future. I am digging up the plants I want to take with me as we start this new phase-a breath of fresh air for two people who desperately need it. It’s gonna be work… but worth it! Love your books, posts and stories for this Francophile. (-; Leslie B
What a lovely parable, Sharon, and so appropriate for now in so many ways–the time of year, people’s lives, the state of the world.
Thank you for the inspiration.
Sharon, I loved your story and comparisons with relationships and our gardens. I am an avid gardener but lost my best friend, lover, and gardening helper 14 years ago after 40 years of blissful marriage. I continue to garden as it is such therapy for me with it’s many beautiful blessings and mysteries. How true that it takes work to nurture and groom it but how close we are to nature and God when we are weeding on our knees, listening to the birds and bees, soaking in the sunshine or breathing in the fragrant air. I observe many young couples who are missing out when ignoring such times to spend together allowing the absorption of natural healing to counteract
all the stress of today’s world. Thank you for reminding me!
This is beautiful…Thank you for sharing!
Your Spring photos are most welcome as we are autumnal in New Zealand, feeling the first intimations of wimter. It is good to have hope for the future 🙂
My husband hates gardening, & I have been housebound for many years : it was a shock to see just how neglected our garden is looking at present. Plenty of food for thought in your story…but I’m so glad it ended on an encouraging note!
Masterful! Thank you, Sharon!
Thanks for sharing your lovely story. It really made me think about my relationship with my husband. Our children are just starting to move out and get married and it reminded me to continue to work and grow each day.
Sharon,
Such a wonderful, thought provoking story…loved it!
Dear Sharon
Iam sat here in tears , after reading all the replays people have sent you .
You touched the hearts of many with your story
And me greatly ! My husband and I went our separate ways after fortyfive years of marriage
He to worked away in the Middle East and Asia . There he met some one else . And his parting words were , iam setting you free to , to enjoy your life , to paint , to sit in a field full of poppies
And live life to the full .
Thanks Sharon love Hazel X. Manchester uk
|Thankyou Sharon please dont apologise (only do that if you DONT write) a story told has many shoots going everywhere and planting seeds to all readers xxx
Very thought provoking. I read the comments with interest. So many of us seem to be at a crossroads or junction in our lives. I need to sit and think.
Oh Sharon! What a delightful story and precious metaphor! Thank you….We can all use some renewal, non? Thank you.
I left a comment and lost it so will just simple say I always appreciate your stories and pictures that relate to the theme of the story.
Simple pleasures bring great joy and so do your stories.
I requested another story and was thrilled that you wrote one and a subject and pictures I love.
Also love your homebody posts; they are the best.
Gratefully,
Sylvia Faye
The photos of the gardens are great… The story might have been fiction , but there was a lot true to life in it. Great story….
Dear Sharon, I was so excited when I saw you had a story that I saved it until I had time to enjoy reading it. I fully enjoyed every word, picture, and analogy within. As one reader stated, don’t apologize for your writing, apologize for not writing.
Just lovely and thought provoking! Jan