the roses...

Spring has always been my favorite time of year. Everything is fresh and new. The bulbs that have been sleeping in the ground all winter burst forth with a rainbow of color. My beloved rose garden wakes up. The tender dark green leaves giving proof of life.

I hadn't ventured to the rose garden yet this year. I finally did that today. There I saw the rose bush that my mother planted thirty-five years ago. After a cold, harsh winter, it is thriving. Literally thousands of new leaves and many new shoots. Soon it will be covered in beautiful, fragrant red blooms.

I stood in the garden and cried. Not tears of sadness, but of joy.

My mother is still with me and plans to be for many more years. Her rose bush is proof that after she leaves this earth, whenever that may be, she will live on. Not only in the roses- she is in my heart, my soul, my very being...