Beauty in the Blur

Another one of Jason’s beautiful photos, that got my mind thinking. You can see more photos at http://jasonfrels.com/2021/04/17/a-photo-per-day-for-a-week/

One of the most pleasant sounds of all, was the sound of her granddaughter’s laughter. Maribelle would never grow tired of hearing it.

“There goes another one!” Lizzy ran after the lightning bug trying to catch it.

Maribelle called out to her granddaughter, “Go ahead and keep catching them sugar, Grandma is going to go sit on the porch for a little.”

Lizzy was a joy to have over, but she did have boundless energy, and anymore Maribelle’s energy wasn’t quite so boundless. She found herself looking forward to bedtime. It had been a busy day, but Maribelle did love every minute of it.

Rocking on the porch, she was glad that the temps were slowly falling in the night air. Texas summers sure were hot. Some days could be miserable, but Maribelle would never move out of Texas, for all her memories were here.

Lightning bugs were flying around her blue bonnets. When some landed on the flowers, Lizzy was as quick as a wink to catch them in her hands.

Maribelle thought back to all her yesterdays. Her days of walking along the side of a country road lined with bluebonnets. Every morning she would make the walk into town to work at the mercantile and every evening she would make the trek back on her tired feet. That is until the one day when Brody offered her a ride home, and after that the days ran together in a blur of complete happiness!

Oh how she remembered walking on air when he pulled up beside her, asking if she wanted a ride. Her heart felt as high as being top of the Ferris Wheel. Brody with his dashing, cocoa brown eyes and a smile so bright, that it could light a thousand candles. The Brody who all the single girls were after, but who appeared to only have eyes for Maribelle. Every day he would come to the mercantile and he would always leave with something, no matter how small the purchase was. Maribelle would chuckle to herself, knowing full well he didn’t really need all the things he purchased. She remembered picking so many blue bonnets saying, ” He loves me, he loves me not!”

That day long ago when he asked her if she needed a ride was etched on her heart forever. She had done her best to restrain herself from jumping up and down with excitement when he asked her. Trying to be a proper Southern woman as she politely responded with a “Yes” and “Thank you!” to him. She was unable to say more due to her heart beating outside of her chest. When pompous Clarice drove by and saw her in the truck with Brody, oh how that had made Maribelle’s day! The look on Clarice’s face was indeed priceless.

He was a true gentleman on the ride to her home, and she thanked him kindly when she got out of his truck. Their eyes met and neither one spoke, but a silent agreement had been made and Maribelle never walked home from the mercantile again.

Day by day their attraction grew and love began. The days blurred into each other, and weeks quickly became months.

Southern nights of fishing in the dark and listening to Alison Krauss on the radio, as he sang to her “You say it best when you say nothing at all.”

Days of walking hand in hand through a field of bluebonnets, and having a picnic in the middle of all of them.

The day he proposed, set her heart to spinning and all the wedding planning passed by in one big, beautiful blur.

Then the wedding day came, followed by children and grandchildren and so many moments in between. Life with Brody had its hard times and disappointments but the joys far outweighed the sadness. The amazing love that grew through the years, took center stage. Its stunning beauty shined through the blur.