Smell The Roses

Leila

Christopher was quiet for a minute. “And then one day you realize you’ve been steamrolling through life and letting the world pass you by. We all get caught up in our own little bubbles and forget about actually living and enjoying life. We forget to literally stop and smell the roses.”

I nodded. I could hear the pain in his voice and knew he was talking about the unexpected death of his wife. Well, I was assuming it was unexpected, because I doubted she had been geriatric when she passed. No one expects to die in their thirties or forties. It was an unexpected event that had rocked his world.

“I think I’d like to smell the roses more often, or the water,” I replied.

His arm squeezed me a little closer. “It’s moments like these that make you appreciate life. I probably sit out here and think too much, but it has made me a much calmer person. I don’t feel angry or stressed.”

“You do have a very Zen quality about you,” I told him. “You have this calming effect that is hard to expl