The Romantic.com

In July 1999, my husband had told me about his affair with a co-worker. I was trying my hardest to be the ideal wife, to win him back. One night we went on a date, dancing. My mother was visiting so we left our son (then 13 yrs. old) at our home with a friend.

Less than 2 hours later we were back home talking with the fire safety person regarding the possible charges against our son and his friend for the fire in our back yard. Much of the evergreen bushes was gone, as well as several branches off the nearby trees. The flames had been higher than our two-story house! We had the boys remove most of the burnt branches. We were so thankful that no one was hurt.

The following summer we dug up the roots, terraced the area, and planted new plants, all perennials. I see the garden now as a symbol of our marriage. It survived the fire! It is now a beautiful symbol of the attention that our marriage needs. We needed to get rid of the hurt (from the affair) like we got rid of the burnt branches. We had to add new plants like we had to add romance and affection to our marriage. We can now look at our garden while we hold hands and remember that love and caring can bring forth new life even after a terrible ordeal.