New Beginnings

          It was a warm sunny day in spring when retired nurse Catherine Baker left her home. She was headed to the local nursery to get

flowers to plant around her home. Now that she had retired, she had time to do new things like plants flowers. She planned on doing a lot of

new things, a lot of new beginnings. Catherine had thought that she would never get a chance to retire but the big day had finally arrived and

she had waited impatiently until spring came. She had spent the long winter months researching what plants would grow in her area and

which she liked best.

          Arriving at the nursery, Catherine got a pushcart and headed to the bedding plants. She saw lots of beautiful flowers but not the

types she wanted. She was surprised, she thought that she had picked out common plants, not ones that were hard to find or grow. She

looked all around her, perhaps there were other sections of plants she hadn't seen.

         "Hello, my name is Bob, can I help you find something?" A tall man with a full head of gray hair and wearing the store apron and name

badge that said "Bob" had come up behind her. Catherine startled and found herself speechless for a minute. Bob was quite good-looking,

she thought, in his blue button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up and his worn blue jeans. She felt an attraction she hadn't felt since her

husband Dan had died from cancer 5 years ago. Bob's smile was warm and welcoming and reached his light brown eyes.

         "I was looking for Flowers, to plant," mumbled Catherine.

          "Well, we have plenty of those. Were you looking for something in particular?."Bob asked, smiling.


          Catherine said, "I was looking for periwinkles and calla lilies, but I haven't seen any."

          Bob said," The periwinkles are over this way" and led her to another section of the nursery.

          "These are beautiful, so many color choices.," She exclaimed. "I thought I wanted the purple ones, but these pink ones are gorgeous

too. now I can't make up my mind.'"

          "What color is your home?" Bob asked.

          Catherine paused and then said, "It's a light green with white trim, why?"

         "These white ones might look good against the pale green with a pop of yellow or red calla lilies in the back," Bob said.

          " Yes, I think you're right!" she said.

          "Let me help you load these onto your cart," Bob offered. Now, let me show you the different varieties of calla lilies we have," he said.

They made small talk as they made their way to a different section of the nursery. She picked out some deep red calla lilies and he loaded

them onto her cart.

          As he pushed the loaded cart to the register, he casually asked, "Are you planting these today?"

         Yes, I was planning on it." she replied with a puzzled look.

          "Well then, let me buy you dinner later today, that way you won't have to cook after working in the garden all day," he said. A tingle

went through Catherine. She had grown to like Bob as he helped her select her plants. She felt as though she could trust him and she was

definitely attracted to him. Should she do it? "Yes," she shouted in her mind. She shyly agreed to meet Bob at a local eatery called the 'Italian

Way'.

          As Catherine drove away, she felt like singing. "Flowers and a date all in the same day! talk about new beginnings," she thought

happily.