Marriage In Full Bloom

Following my father’s passing a few weeks ago, people flooded my mother’s home with flowers. Many people sent flowers to our house, which I promptly dropped off at mom’s. The interesting thing is whether or not people knew my mom’s favorite flower, they all instinctively sent the same kind: orchids.

Orchids are my mother’s favorite flowers. They’re mine, as well, but I don’t keep them around the house for one simple reason: I kill them. I physically kill them no matter how hard I try to take care of them. When it comes to orchids -really, when it comes to any potted plant- I can’t seem to keep them alive.

When I visited my mom yesterday, I commented on how so many had sent orchids to her house and mine. She responded with a smile, “You know why orchids are my favorite flower?” No, I realized I didn’t. ”They’re so easy to keep alive.” Really? They could have fooled me.

She explained that most people over-water orchids which is why they die. But she loves them because they only require one cup of water, once a week, and they remain living and vibrant.

Thinking on her words, I thought about an event I attended recently for online writers. When I’d tell people I wrote about being happily married or that the name of this site was the Happy Wives Club, I received one of two responses. Either they loved that I focused exclusively on the positive side of marriage or they kindly excused themselves from the conversation.

Everyone’s experience in marriage is different. Everyone’s concept of how to take care of their family varies. Just like the difference between orchids at my home that die after just a couple weeks and orchids at mom’s house that seem to live forever. Marriage is no different than every other living thing in life. The outcome will be determined by how well we tend to and care for it. Mom knew to water once a week, and only one cup. I thought I was doing a great job by watering daily. I was wrong.

I may have a black thumb when it comes to plants but I definitely have a green thumb when it comes to caring for my marriage. And working toward getting better at it each day.

Question: How important do you think “date night” is to maintaining a happy and healthy marriage? Do you and your husband schedule them regularly?

Until tomorrow…make it a great day!

Comments: With more than 69,000 Happy Wives Club members already actively engaged on our Facebook Community page, what better place to share your thoughts? Join me there and let’s continue the conversation.

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Fawn Weaver

Founder at Happy Wives Club

Fawn Weaver is the USA Today and New York Times bestselling author of Happy Wives Club: One Woman's Worldwide Search for the Secrets of a Great Marriage, adopting the same name as the Club she founded in 2010. The Happy Wives Club community has grown to include more than 1 million women in over 110 countries around the world. She’s an investor in real estate, tech sector and lifestyle brands. When she’s not writing or working, she's happily doting over her husband of twelve years, Keith (and sometimes manages to do all three simultaneously).