A Dozen Red Roses

If you go into any grocery store this week, you'll find dozens of red roses all bundled up to give to your sweetheart. For some reason a dozen red roses are twice the price around Valentines. But a dozen red roses mean more to me than just a gift on the Hallmark holiday.  The remind me of the women who instilled in me a love of flowers - my grandmother.

Frances Teel, or Mamaw as she's better known, has taught me that "fresh flowers are a necessity not a luxury." Nothing can bring more life to a room than fresh flowers. It's why we send flowers to say "I love you," "I'm sorry" and "Get well soon." As I write this, I have pink tulips (one of my favs) in a vase on my coffee table.

I stopped by the grocery store on Friday to pick up a dozen red roses to take down to the lake with me today. Every visit I have with Mamaw is special and a fresh set of roses brightens her eyes. See Mamaw has recently been put on hospice care. After almost 10 years of fighting several diseases including congestive heart failure, the doctors are saying her body just can't fight anymore. Trust me, her spirit is still there. But her body is failing her. They're keeping her comfortable, and every day she remains with us is a blessing.

It's hard to fully grasp the implications of hospice care. For me is just doesn't seem real. When I got on a plane in 2010 to move to Spain to finish college, I cried because I thought I would never see my Mamaw again. But she bounced back, as she's done several times since. But this time is different. And every time I drive up the bump-bump road away from their house on the lake, I wonder if that was the last time I would see her alive. Did I saw goodbye my last time? Was that my last hug?

But when I think like that, I turn back to red roses. They bring life, and they bring happiness. When I brought the red roses to Mamaw today, I first sat down to start chatting with her - taking in every moment I could. But I quickly got up as I was ordered by Mamaw to put those roses in a vase to put on her bedside table (see I told you her spirit was still fully intact). It was only after I cut the roses at an angle, like she taught me, and put them into a class vase, just like she taught, that I was able to sit down and chat. And while I can't stay down at the lake every minute, I know that sitting next to her are a dozen red roses that show her that I love her.

Just like she taught me before, "fresh flowers are a necessity, not a luxury."