Family Heritage

Mother’s Day means countless memories of the most influential women in our lives. Those of us who are fortunate enough to have our mothers still with us feel very blessed. For others, the day is bittersweet as memories of those loving mothers and grandmothers no longer with us come with grief which envelopes us again. Every Mother’s Day I am entrusted with a gift from my grandmother—a sweet scented, delicate pink, climbing rose—Dr. Van Fleet. Many years ago, my mother’s mother picked this old-fashioned rose at Orton Plantation, rooted it, and grew a prolific climber on a lattice. She made my mother’s picture in front of this rose covered lattice bay prior to Senior Prom night of 1936. It is a black and white photo my siblings and I know well. When my mother and father, with their five children, moved back to Wilmington in 1956, grandmother gave mother a small bush she had rooted from her original Van Fleet. Daddy disliked the bush because of the large thorns, but my mother cherished it. Years later, after my father’s death, my mother gave me that very same Van Fleet rose bush. My husband dug it up for us, as it had become quite large. I gave it a place of honor in its own flower bed in full sun. My husband dislikes the bush because of the large thorns and it tends to outgrow the flower bed, but I cherish it. I like to cut the flowers and bring them into our house to enjoy the fragrance and the memories. Van Fleet roots easily when a branch is allowed to rest in the dirt and take root. There are now six rose bushes overflowing in that flower bed. I have given away three such bushes: one to a friend and two to my eldest daughter who planted one at her Greenville home some years ago and a second one most recently at her home in Wilmington. Mother was most pleased that another generation is continuing this tradition. Every year for more than a month and beginning before Mother’s Day, these bushes bloom— occasionally at first, then profusely, finally just a few waning pink roses, bringing memories and bestowing comfort. I can always count on this legacy from my grandmother, to my mother, to me, now to my daughter. Mothers. Family heritage. Celebrate yours.