The Blooms That Broke Us (Tennessee Love Stories)

by Ashley Dill

“Love is something you practice, child. Something you break your back working for. Leaving will break you. But so will loving. It will hurt you to love patiently. To forgive over and over. To sacrifice.” A slow smile spread over his face. “But it’d be a crying shame to miss out on the harvest.

“Well, the way I see it, you can sit around, watch your life and opportunities pass you by, waiting for the man you love to say a few magic words…or you can just forgive him. You don’t need to be invited. Forgiveness happens in the heart whether someone even realizes they need to be forgiven.” “Does forgiveness mean I have to forget everything that happened between us?” “Not at all. Just means you stop punishing him for it. Stop letting your heart hold on.”

If you want relationships in your life to thrive, you got to operate for their good, not your own.” “That’s exactly the opposite of everything people say.” “Yep. And it’s the reason sixty-plus year marriages will die with my generation. Forgiveness, love, commitment—they’re all sacrifices. Painful ones sometimes. Folks don’t like pain.”

Love ain’t romance. It’s grit.” Grit. So courage and character. Two ways I fell short. “That sounds so hard.” “Maybe. But it’s a lot more rewarding than chasing butterflies.”

Maybe the way we got here—as painful as it was—somehow made this better. Made this stronger.