Spring, Delivered!
A bundle of cherry blossoms brought spring to my home—and with it, waves of memories, soft petals, and a reminder to savor fleeting beauty.
Spring Blossoms at Home
The other day, I received a delivery from Yuri, a Chicago-based flower designer at De Bloemen Flower Design—a bundle of cherry blossom branches I had ordered. And guess what? They’ve started blooming! The soft pink petals, clustered into heavy-looking blossoms, are absolutely adorable.
Sakura, a Symbol of New Beginnings
Seeing cherry blossoms always gives me an extra dose of “spring is here” feeling,—probably because I was born and raised in Japan, where sakura is the iconic symbol of the season’s arrival. In Japan, the school and business year starts in April and ends in March. As plants bloom and greenery returns, students move up a grade, employees transfer to new positions, and life steps into a fresh chapter.
Cherry blossoms mark those seasonal shifts. Around late March, as buds start to form, Japan is buzzing with graduation ceremonies and job transfers. Then in early April, when schools and companies welcome new students and employees—those same trees are in full bloom. It’s tradition to take photos under the blossoms, and it always feels like the flowers are cheering on each new beginning.
Fleeting Beauty, Deep Emotion
Cherry blossoms are delicate and fall easily with rain or wind—that fleeting beauty is part of their charm. In Japan, the short-lived sakura season draws crowds of flower lovers and tourists alike, all trying to catch those precious one or two weeks of bloom. For centuries, Japanese poets and songwriters have used sakura as a metaphor for human emotions—tender first loves, bittersweet breakups, the sentimental nostalgia of laughing with friends in spring. I think it’s true: we Japanese really are romantics at heart.
A Gentle Reminder to Be Present
Since moving to the U.S., I see sakura far less often. But every now and then, I’ll spot a cherry tree blooming in someone’s front yard—and I can’t help but stop and stare. (I promise I’m not a creeper!) It may be a different variety from Japan’s famous Somei-Yoshino, but but sakura is sakura. And it always brings back memories—of hellos and goodbyes, of all the seasons that brought me to this moment.
Even when the skies are still gray and wintry, the blossoms Yuri delivered fill my home with spring. Their short bloom reminds me to savor the moment, to live fully in the now—even if it’s just a quiet moment of beauty by my window.
