Where Hope Lies...

Six months ago this beautiful leaf was just a bud, pale green and about to burst with so much hope in its infancy. And then it did. The sun and the warmth drew it out and helped it blossom to become who it was meant to be. Fluttering in the hot summer days and feeding the source from which it grew. But now as the temperatures drop and nutrients cease, it too has ceased. Sort of. Moving from one plane to another. Just as each of us will, eventually. It has changed from its glowing green with so much youthful vibrance and promise to beautiful and confident scarlet, announcing the cold months ahead. But even in its death it is beautiful, almost mocking in its splendor. And six months from now—on the very same branch from which this leaf blossomed, thrived, and then fell—a new bud will appear. And this is where hope lies.