A Madeleine Rose

Our daughter shares her birthday with my grandparents (Madeleine and Andrew) anniversary on this date in 1926. They were a huge part of my life, and continue to be today.

Along with tons of other plants over the decades, Grandma gave a rose bush to my parents some 40 years ago. A few years back, my sister rescued its scraggly and dying self where it was shaded by a now full-grown tree in my parents yard. She transplanted it in her yard at home in Maine, where it had an unfortunate run-in with a roto-tiller.

My sister inherited the biggest dose of Scottish stubbornness from Grandpa, and she refused to give up on it. She coaxed it back to life and health, and 2 or 3 years ago had enough shoots to send me home with some. I planted it between our two knockout roses, glad to have a little memento of my grandmother in my yard for as long it might tolerate "southern living".

And on this day, on Madeleine's birthday - for the first time in my yard, Grandma's rose is blooming. It means the world to me, connecting family and loved ones long departed and dearly missed, as well as the young one sprouting and blossoming before my very eyes. The timing, and its journey, are certainly not lost on me.

With love to Madeleines both young and revered, and Happy 10th birthday to Madeleine Rose.

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