#ThrowbackThursday: Love and the Last Rose Petal

Post originally written June 2023.

The beauty in flowers run deep.

The beauty in love runs deeper.

They bud, sprout, bloom then wither away.

Love begins, learns, grows, thrives and sometimes fades away.

Most roses are cut from their natural habitat and placed or grown in a nursery to be selected and given to someone special.

Most loves will catch you off guard and sweep you off your feet by someone who is willing to give you to someone who can take really good care of you until the right one comes along.

Whoever receives the roses, knows that the time they have together will be short.

Some loves know that they are only here for a short while.

Yet, they still give it food, fresh water and clip the stems to prolong their life.

So they still fall in love, operate in love and enjoy this love for as long as they can.

The once closed rose starts to open and bloom beautifully, although it’s fate is imminent.

Love makes you glow and grow differently. Although you can’t help who you fall in love with and some times that love isn’t meant to last forever.

As time passes, leaves and petals start to wither and fall away from the stem.

The growing pains of love start to chip away at what was once so beautiful.

There’s still beauty in the rose despite what it has sacrificed.

The beauty in love are the lessons learned.

The recipient of the selfless rose has been blessed by its beauty.

Love is still beautiful despite the using and abusing that sometimes goes with it.

The rose fell apart slowly and lasted as long as it could.

Lovers try to stick it out but at some point, a separation is inevitable.

The rose is down to the last rose petal.

Love has its last straw. The pain is too much to bear.

The caretaker decides to repay the rose by propagating it and creating a whole new rose bush from the stems of the roses that sacrificed their life for the pleasure of the caretaker.

Even though this one love ended, the beautiful thing about love is that you love, learn and love again. Each time more beautiful than the last.

When I thought of the title “The last Rose Petal”, Teyana Taylor was set to do a tour by the same name and I was listening to a sermon/motivational video on YouTube. The premise of the video was about letting go. So in a roundabout way, this post is a metaphor for letting go and starting over. What you once thought may have been the end, was blessed by a new beginning. Everything you have gone through was only preparation for a bigger and better version of you. Embrace the journey. Your hurt, pain and sacrifice will be the blessing you needed to get you to your heart’s desire. Although deep down inside we know that some things won’t last long, we put time, maybe even too much time, and energy into them. I believe it’s in our nature to try to prolong the inevitable. Our efforts won’t go unnoticed. It speaks to our character and tenacity. It shows that although this thing was only in your life for a season, you took care of it to the best of your ability. – Just My Thoughts

Mother’s Day Blues

A mother, by definition, is:

Noun: a woman in relation to her child or children.

Verb: 1. bring up (a child) with care and affection. 2. give birth to.

Literally one of a few things that every human being has, is a mother. It could be a biological mother, adoptive mother, spiritual mother, mother figure, god mother, step mother, mother in love or mother in law. There is a woman in our lives that has birthed us, nurtured us, loved us or raised us.

Today, we give thanks to those women. No one is perfect at everything and there is no rule book to being a parent. Most mothers do what they saw their mother’s do or what they knew to do but I believe that everyone did what they could.

In the eyes of some children, teens or now adults, what their mother did could’ve been better. My mama for sure did what she could. For that, I am grateful. I focus on the positive things. We were never hungry, without clothes or a roof over our head. She is 77 years old. I’m grateful she’s still here and able to live independently and without any assistance.

I saw a video yesterday on Instagram, asking if you came back in another life, would you want your mother to be your mother again. My answer is complicated but simple. If I want to be me in another life, she would have to be my mother again. Everything about her and my childhood made me who I am, and I absolutely love me so…

I’ve always mentioned that I didn’t grow up with love, being shown love or even been told “I love you” unless there was at least alcohol or beer around. Even still, I can count the number of times it was told to me.

As I mentioned, she did what she knew to do and she did what she could. I’m grateful for her. When I become a mother, I will do a lot differently. My child will be conceived in love, showered with love, shown love, told love, and will know the truth of God’s love for us all.

So, happy Mother’s day to each mother and mother figure. Keep doing your best and if you can do better than your best, do that. You are literally changing someone’s life. I’m grateful for my mother and our relationship is fine. I only wished that the relationship was different, better. So this is my mother’s day blues because I’m grateful for my mother and I’m still praying for the day to become a better mother to my child than mine was to me.

Sincerely,

Angie

5 Year Plan Results…

This post is almost 2 years late. But the 5 year plan I speak of, was made on October 16, 2018 at 2:00p. (It’s written down with the time and date.). Five years later would be October 2023, but I capped it at December 2023. This is the update from that time frame. Listen to the podcast for this episode here!

October 2018 me: I was 34 years old. I was working 2 part time jobs. One I had been employed at for 6-1/2 years. The other was a part-time seamstress job. I had recently started my podcast and just purchased a domain for my website. My goals were to find my purpose, get into a relationship/marriage, have kids, produce budget planners, have a successful podcast and website, pay off my car and student loans, finances in overflow, living in the house of my dreams and donating a lot to help others.

February 2025 me (October 2018-December 2023): Since then, what actually happened was…

  • Credit score went from 715 to 816(highest).
  • Wrote a book and created a journal, never published them.
  • Practiced tithing the full 10%.
  • Saved approximately $60,000+.
  • From $13,000 in credit card approvals/limits to over $100,000.
  • Maintained $0 credit card debt!
  • Paid car off December 2020( 2-1/2 years early)
  • Opened an IRA and maxed it out each year since.
  • Contributed $5,000+ into the stock market.
  • Approximately 50+ blog posts.
  • Over 100+ podcast episodes.
  • Over 100+ YouTube videos.
  • Created budget worksheets for free download.
  • I did get into a relationship but it didn’t last very long.

I didn’t reach all of my goals and I am okay with that because some things are on God’s timing, not mine. His timing is perfect and always worth it. I also accomplished way more than I planned to. Now that I have finally updated y’all, as promised on this 5 year plan, before I turn 41, I will make another 5 year plan.

Stay tuned, because I have to do a 2025 money/saving/budget post. My goal is to always share new tips, tricks and ways to help everyone grow financially. So, make sure you subscribe to this blog.

Sincerely,

Angie