I finally got a chance to have a socially-distanced meeting with my Mom recently. I longed to be able to hug her and kiss her on the cheek, but had to be content with sitting 10 feet away and trying to understand each other while talking with masks on (we took ours off for the photo).

At one point, I got up to go look at some flowers to see if I could identify them, and to my surprise, she followed right behind me with her walker. This 93-year-old lady can move pretty fast when she wants to. We walked around the area so she could see and admire the flowers that had been planted, me trailing behind her. Suddenly she gave a cry of pleasure and stooped to look more closely at a flower that caught her eye. When I got there, I understood why she got excited. It was a beauty, just minding its own business in a little pot on the ground.

How kind of God to nourish that hunger for beauty that we all have.

It was a bittersweet meeting – so near, and yet so far. But this one exquisite bloom gave us a shared joy – as close to a hug as we were going to get. I think of my mom when I look at this photo and while I am bereft, I am comforted. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

I’ll probably delete this in the morning.