Top Ten Reasons We Have Loved Summer '09

#8

My roses have brought me much joy this summer. My mom always laughs and thinks I should get rid of them, "they are such old people flowers." But much of the reason I love them so, is sentimental.

My grandma Morgan always brought me roses from her garden for my birthday. I remember feeling so special that these roses were just for me. Since no one in my family has a birthday when roses bloom, this was a special treat just for me. When I lived in Oregon, grandma would press her petals and send them with my card in the mail. It always made me feel so special, roses will always remind me of her.

I loved watching my next door neighbor, Conway Ashton trim and care for his roses nearly every day. I tried to take good notes while peering through the fence and would then try to imitate nearly every thing I saw. Sadly, brother Ashton was 96 years old and passed away this summer. Roses will also remind me of him.

Last, my great grandma Josephine, who I knew for such a short time, but somehow always knew she really loved me, wrote poems. My favorite poem of hers is about roses. I have read it from time to time and I smile and think of her. She also reminds me of roses.

So though, they might be considered an "old persons" flower, they make me happy. maybe it's a connection to an earlier generation maybe just the way they smell or the many, many colors that pop into my yard, they make me smile all the same.