A Grandmother’s Roses

“It’s a rainy day,” I say to the cashier, making conversation. “But we can use the rain.”

I say these words without much enthusiasm. I don’t care for rain. Yes, I love what rain does for us, giving life to spring, helping the flowers grow, washing away the pollen, and benefiting the earth.

But I will always pick a sunny day over a rainy one. So, I say the words, but I don’t really feel them.

Still, the cashier at the grocery store lights up because she does love the rain, and she knows we need it. Then she starts telling me how the rain will help her rosebush.

She purchased the bush and planted it when her grandmother died seven years ago, and every year it blooms around this time—just before Mother’s Day.

It has 12 blooms right now, and she’s excited to see them all looking beautiful, especially as she remembers her grandmother on that special day.

She was planning to take pictures of the roses and send them to her extended family as they think of her grandmother together.

And the rain is just what the rosebush needs.

I watch this woman lit up with joy, telling me about her grandmother—a woman who clearly loved her grandchildren dearly, especially this one, her first grandchild. And I love that she has a tangible reminder of her grandmother in this beautiful white rosebush, which is thriving as Mother’s Day approaches.

What a gift to have a rosebush and beautiful memories of your grandmother. How lovely to see the rain as a beautiful gift too.

Because we’re talking roses, I tell the cashier that my husband and I just bought a rosebush the other day, and the deer ate the blooms off within 24 hours. She and I share our frustration with deer, and I tell her my husband is working on solutions to protect our future roses. He will figure it out. He always does.

As I take my bags of groceries and start to push my cart away, the smiling cashier wishes me luck with my roses, and I tell her I hope she enjoys hers. Then I’m on my way.

She’s right. We can use the rain. We can also use the roses.

Whether your Mother’s Day is full of rain or roses or both, I hope you have a chance to celebrate and remember some of the mothers who have meant so much to you, whether they’re still on earth or already in heaven.

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