Roses

When I was a little girl, my mom, my Mema and I would go out into the yard and clip a rose from the rose bush to pin on our dresses for church. My mom and I would wear a red or pink rose because our mother's were living while my Mema would wear a white rose for her mother who had passed away. We did this every year and it is something I look back on with great fondness.

Before I became a first time mother, my Granny Bea was very ill and I went to visit her in Cookeville, Tennessee. She placed her hand on my pregnant belly and Emma-Caroline kicked as if knowing her Great-Grandmother was there. Granny Bea passed away the week before Emma-Caroline was born. My heart hurt when I knew Emma-Caroline would never know her Great Granny Bea. With Granny Bea's death being so close to Emma-Caroline's birth, it seemed so unfair. But my Dad said, "You just always remember Granny Bea's hand on your belly and know that she and Emma-Caroline knew each other at that moment." 

On my first Mother's Day two months later, I received roses from my Daddy. I was so touched that he had sent me those roses knowing that this was the first Mother's Day that he couldn't send them to his own mother, Granny Bea. I have received roses each year since on Mother's Day from my Daddy. Each year it reminds me of that day when Granny Bea and Emma-Caroline knew each other, and that moment means the world to me.

This past Mother's Day, my girls continued the tradition of giving roses to the mothers of our church. It made me so happy to see my girls serving the church in this way and to know that their own memories of Mother's Day would be filled with images of roses.

One other mother that is remembered on Mother's Day is Mary, Jesus' mother and our Mother, who is also symbolized by the rose. My heart sang with great delight when we sang "Immaculate Mary" in our church service on Sunday as a way of honoring the woman who said "yes" to our God and became the mother of the Son who became our Saviour.

In our house, roses are very special as a reminder of a mother's love, and God's love. We even have our own special rose, Sophie Rose, who is indeed the most beautiful rose in The Avery House garden.