They have always been my favorite. My mother’s too. “They’re hovering,” she said, between dandelion and rose.” And I suppose she was as well, finding the joy of what was in reach, and what was just beyond, celebrating the beauty in between. 

My hostess gift for Easter was a bouquet of tulips. Beautiful. All the joy of yellow, and its promise of sunny days ahead. But it was more. It is more. It wasn’t a random guess. They know my favorite now, which is to say they know me, which is to say they know my mother. This is what makes us a family. Connects us. Not blood or permission, just love. What could be more yellow than that?

The number reaches higher on my gratitude clicker. Higher still, I think, when you tell me that maybe yellow is your favorite color too. Maybe tulips bring you joy. That maybe we’re all connected in this promise of sunny days to come. And just like that, we shine a little brighter. We hope a little higher. And keep on clicking.