Southern Belle Magazine Digital #02 August 2013 | Page 30

Su mmer R OS ES Women love flowers and nothing speaks to our hearts more than roses. They are not only beautiful but they beckon us to relax, daydream and appreciate all the simple pleasures of life. We invited our readers to share some of their stories of summer roses and the memories they invite. Hope y’all enjoy as much as we did. I inherited my love of roses from my mother, Frances Brown. She had such a gift for growing magnificent roses. Her two favorite varieties were the deep velvet red Mr. Lincoln and the soft peachy pink yellow blend of a Peace rose. She had over fifty rose bushes in her garden in the north Mississippi countryside. From that rose garden, she provided an arrangement every Sunday for her church. When my mother's health declined in her latter years, she was no longer able to care for her rose garden as she had in the past so she began giving the rose bushes one by one to friends and neighbors. I transplanted one of her bushes to my Oklahoma flower garden. The first bloom on her rose bush each spring is a joyful time. It's as though Mama is smiling at me through each fragrant blossom. A few years after Mama went to heaven, we moved my daddy, Leon, from Mississippi to live with us in Oklahoma. One day, I opened a letter for Daddy that was from a church friend & neighbor of theirs in Mississippi. As I lifted the card from the envelope, a handful of dried yellow rose petals fell from the envelope. In the card was a note saying my mother had given a rose bush from her garden to this friend who wanted to share the petals of the first bloom of that bush with my daddy. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I placed the petals in Daddy's hands. What a sweet gesture that was. True kindness from southern neighbors. - Susan Ponville When my younger son was a young teen, he proudly presented me with a rose bush for Mother's Day. He proudly informed me that it was a Christian Dior rose. Although he knew nothing about fashion, he had heard that name and knew it was classy. Years later he pursued a degree in landscaping and owned a very successful business. He is now almost 40 years old with a son of his own. We have moved twice since he planted that rose in our yard and he lives four hours away, but the same rose bush has moved with us and is now growing by the driveway of our retirement house and it still blooms--just one blossom for Mother's Day. I am filled with warm memories each year when it blooms and remember that precious young boy who shared a gift that keeps on giving. - Sandy Susan Ponville 30 Susan Ponville