The world could use a little more beauty

For a minute I thought it was January. I received a plant catalog in the mail today. Those usually come in January. I checked the calendar. Nope. It is August.

On the front cover was a coupon for $25.00 off any order. If the order was less than $25.00 it was free. Really. Who can order that few plants? I certainly can't.

There were hellebores, also known as Lenten roses; reblooming iris; poppies and oh, look! Here is a lily tree! Wouldn't that be something to grow a lily that is taller than me? Wow. Ooh ... and a tulip that looks like an ice cream cone. I want several of almost everything.

I sigh. In reality the catalog is no more than a wish book. Like most people these days the portion of my income allotted for frivolities has shrunk as prices have risen. I have to pick and choose what to buy. As much as I want a particular plant I will get more pleasure out of spending that same amount of money on books for the grandchildren or a treat for my husband.

Plus my mother's birthday is coming up at the end of the month and that means presents. I can't top last year when I sent out notices to far-flung family members to send her a birthday card. She enjoyed that as much as anything I have ever gotten for her.

There are so many things she needs that cannot be purchased from any catalogs. This hurts and that hurts. Television advertises pills and potions all the time for many of her aliments. Why won't they prescribe those things for her? Why won't the doctors cure what plagues her? They fix everybody else, don't they?

She does not realize that doctors can't fix everything.

Doctors refuse to look at her so she can read their lips and refuse to talk loud enough for her to hear them. They don't understand that she doesn't have a choice in the matter and they do. Is it really so difficult to treat a patient like a human being? Is it that much of an imposition for medical professionals to look at the person they are talking to?

Apparently it is.

I have no control over how others treat her. I only have control over how I treat people. I confess. Sometimes I am impatient and short with people. But I always, always look at them when I speak.

We had a gentleman come into work the other day. He had cerebral palsy and was difficult to understand. He was understandably upset about being treated like a second-class citizen because of his disability. I wanted to tell him that I agreed that people could be thoughtless. In the back of my mind I thought there but for the grace of God go I.

I also believe that we all have problems. Nobody has a perfect life. Some are obvious, such as a physical disability, others less apparent such as my mother's hearing loss. Still other problems are invisible to the naked eye; such as the pretty girl who is dealing with a death in the family; the guy who just lost his job; the woman struggling with mental illness; the man diagnosed with a dreaded disease; and on and on.

My point is that we all deserve a little kindness. We all deserve courtesy. The tendency is to treat others as if they are the cause of our problems when in reality they have as many problems as we do.

I think I'll forget about problems for awhile and flip through the wish book where flowers are always in bloom and nothing ever dies. Maybe I'll see how much I can spare to buy a few bulbs or rhizomes. After all, the world could use a little more beauty.[[In-content Ad]]