Baby's Breath of My Bouquet

You’re the baby’s breath of my bouquet.” It’s my go to line, a pleasant compliment a pretty comparison to a flower. Its honest, not an exaggerated truth that most people tend to give. Most people I meet, most people I know, are the equivalent of baby’s breath of my friendship bouquet. I really enjoy baby’s breath, it’s truly an overlooked flower. So many small white petals speckle the thin green stems that even if you wanted to you couldn’t count them all. Even though it is truly beautiful in its own right, most often it’s just used as filler between the more prominent flowers, the ones we all know by name, the roses, the orchids, the violets.
Not everyone gets to be a rose, not everyone should want to either. I have enough rosy friends. I love their beautiful complexity, but we all know that these petals are born from a stem of thorns. Baby’s breath can be a beautiful cover, a protection from the stem that’s unpleasant the eyes and harmful to the touch.
Few people I know are orchids. They are the definition of perfection, best flowers forever, but even a bouquet of orchids can lose my interest. Like the fabled Christmas every day, its flawless nature loses its value when only compared to itself. Baby’s breath offers a charming contrast. It’s a flower with innocent beauty, hardly presumptuous I am satisfied with its quiet company. I enjoy its tiny petals, but honestly, it only captures my concentration when I am take a break from long and longing stares at perfection.
Violets are the baby’s breath’s natural companion. With short stems its petals stand as if it were an equal. The white of the baby’s breath makes the violet more vibrant, while the violet’s violet makes the white look even more pure. While I don’t spend much time with them individually they I love to be with them when they are together. Rather plain when apart, but when together they build each other up until I am just as happy with them as I am with almost any others.
Our flowery companions accompany us through the hills and valleys of our lives. Some take monopolize our time and devotion. Some have depth that we have been delving into for years. We have a few that will always stay close to our hearts, but most people will forever remain the baby’s breath of our bouquets.