The other day I was working when David said he needed to go to Dollar Tree. I knew I didn’t need anything and could have stayed here and work. I decided to go with David because it would allow us to spend sometime together and I would be able to get some steps in.

As we left the house David reminded me when we get to Dollar General we only needed one thing. Dishwashing soap. That’s what we went in for. Of course, that’s not what we came out with.

Which is half the fun of shopping at Dollar General you never know what you will find and that is how we walked out the front door with our arms full of stuff. Then David and I looked at each other, and realized we had forgotten the dishwashing soap.

So David had to turn around and walk back into the store. Buttercup. That is because both David and I got distracted looking at other things in the store. I probably should tell you that I had actually been looking for fall decorations.

I’m trying to do one holiday at a time, but I also know how quickly the good decorations disappear. I’d rather find what I want early than wait until everything has been picked over. Especially since David has already told me he’s not getting my Halloween decorations out of the closet this year. Buttercup that isn’t happening in this house. LOL My Halloween porch sign is getting put up.

I’m not sure he understands that I’ve been using that Halloween porch sign for the last couple of years, and somehow I have a feeling it is going to make its appearance again this year.

But as we turned a corner in the store, I turned around. And there it was. Another porch sign. I saw it and immediately knew it had to come home with me. David tried to distract me but that wasn’t happening.

It said:

Love Grows Here.

I had to laugh because I knew David probably wasn’t going to be thrilled about another porch sign.

But then I thought about what it said.

Love Grows Here. And that’s something I say all the time. Because if we don’t have anything else, we have love in our home. We have love for each other. We have love for our family. We have love that has carried us through good days and hard days.

And then I looked a little closer at the bottom of the sign. There was a circle of tulips. Beautiful tulips in pinks, yellows, and other colors. And suddenly, that little porch sign meant even more.

Everybody who knows our family knows what tulips mean to me. Tulips were Suzanne’s favorite flowers. They were also my Grandma Dorie’s favorite flowers. So there I stood in Dollar General, looking at a porch sign that said Love Grows Here, surrounded by tulips that immediately made me think of two people who will always be part of my heart.

Which was a God moment and I found myself asking David how could I leave it there? I couldn’t. And the funny thing is, it matched another porch sign I already had at home which also came from Dollar General.

It was almost like it had been waiting for a spot on my porch. So, yes, I brought it home. I may have gone into Dollar General looking for fall decorations, but apparently I wasn’t supposed to come home with fall decorations that day.

I was supposed to find something else. Something that reminded me of love. Something that reminded me of Suzanne. Something that reminded me of Grandma Dorie. Something that reminded me that the things we love don’t disappear just because we can’t see the people we love anymore.

Sometimes they show up in the smallest places. Even in a Dollar General aisle. And maybe that’s why I couldn’t leave that porch sign behind. I believe sometimes the Lord puts things in our path for a reason.

We don’t always recognize the reason immediately. Sometimes it’s just a sign. Sometimes it’s a flower. Sometimes it’s a saying that catches our eye. And sometimes it’s a little reminder that says exactly what our heart needs to hear.

Love Grows Here. And it does. It grows in our home. It grows in our family. It grows in our memories. It grows in the stories we continue to tell. And it grows every time we remember the people we love.

So I may not have walked out of Dollar General with the fall decorations I went looking for. But I walked out with something better. A porch sign. A circle of tulips. A reminder of Suzzanne and Grandma Dorie. And a little reminder that, no matter what life brings our way… Love grows here. Buttercup.

Thank you,

Glenda, Charlie and David Cates