I have many different roses in my garden and yard. I am not one of those who keeps them cut back to perfect little bushes, instead I let them take over fences and grow free. In return they give an awesome show of thousands of roses this time of year!
Many of them were planted 8 years ago. In the spring of 2004, our family lost 16 people for various reasons- family, friends, young, old, cancer, heart attack, car accident, alcoholism... Going to funerals and memorials became a little too much for us after the first several. I also gave birth to my third son that spring and was unable to travel to some services. So I started planting roses in memory of those we lost instead.
Each spring they put on quite a show. And each spring I take time to enjoy their beauty and remember why they are there. I think about another year gone by and feel thankful that my family is still here, thriving. I think about what each of those people meant to me and how they impacted my life. I would not be the same person without knowing each of them. Eight years later, it is still a grieving process. And life goes on with roses of love.
