My mother taught me my love of roses. For most any special day like a wedding anniversary or birthday, Daddy would go and buy Mother a couple of new rose bushes and plant them outside in her garden.
Unfortunately, they didn’t exactly thrive in the hot humid tropical weather they had in Florida, but she so loved her garden. The first thing I did when I moved to Pacific Grove 17 years ago was to plan and plant my own rose garden in my back yard. I finally had a home of my own that I could create my special garden.
On Mother’s Day I particularly miss her. She passed away six years ago at the age of 97 right after Mother’s Day. When I asked her that last Mother’s Day what she wanted for Mother’s Day, she didn’t hesitate, “Roses bushes,” she said. “What color?” I asked? She smiled and said, “Red!”. Mother moved here from Florida after she turned 90 and lived downstairs from me in a one bedroom garden apartment that worked perfectly for her.
Her bedroom looked out onto the garden where she enjoyed the flowers and the bluebirds that came to splash around in the bird bath.
Well, I had my mission that last Mother’s Day. I went to Grigg’s Nursery in Carmel Valley and bought several red rose bushes, an Ingrid Bergman rose and a Mr. Lincoln which are still in full bloom.
For good measure I bought several others arranging them either in the garden or in large pots where she could see them from her bedroom window. I, also, filled her apartment with blooming flowers. I got a little carried away and it looked like a florist’s showroom by the time I finished. I knew the end was near and I wanted to surround her with beauty.
As anyone who loses a loved one knows, it’s really hard to go through their effects and dispose of what is left. My mother was a “saver” and I am still going through boxes of papers of saved clippings, magazine articles, photos, old address books, etc. It’s always emotional, but I have determined I need to get this done- after all, it has been 6 years – way too long to hang onto miscellaneous papers that aren’t needed. I was getting bogged down and teary eyed as I went through a box the other day and found this clipping. It was as if my Mother was speaking to me . . . for the newspaper clipping she had saved read as follows:
“Don’t grieve for me, for now I’m free, I’m following the path God laid for me. I took His Hand when I heard him call, I turned my back and left it all.
I could not stay another day to laugh, to love, to work or play. Tasks left undone must stay that way. I found that place at the close of day.
If parting has left a void, then fill it with remembered joy. A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss. Ah yes, these things, I too, will miss.
Be not burdened with times of sorrow. I wish you the sunshine of tomorrow. My life’s been full, I savored much, good friends, good times, a loved one’s touch.
Perhaps my time seemed all too brief, don’t lengthen it now with undue grief. Lift up your heart and share with me. God wanted me now, He set me free.” — Author unknown
Mother, thank you for leaving that note for me to find.
Love, Susan.
