Rossie's Rose

It's time for my yearly tribute to my grandmother. This was one of my first blog posts a couple of years ago when I started blogging. I copy it yearly, to honor the grandmother that I love and still miss so much:

In February 1994, my grandmother passed away suddenly. She was 74 years old and in great health. We were very close and it was a very difficult time for me and my mom. We still miss her very much.

After she died, I dug up this rose bush from her yard in East Texas. It originally came from a large rose bush at her old family home place. She took a cutting and planted it in her yard and it was doing well.



I planted the rose bush at my house in North Texas. In 1995, we sold our house. We weren't sure where we were moving so I put it in the contract that I could come back and dig up the rose bush. We ended up divorcing and I lived in a rental for 9 months before finding a house I liked and bought.

So, in 1997, 2 years after we sold our house, mom and I went knocking on these people's door, shovel in hand, to dig up Rossie's rose bush. They looked at us like we were crazy, but allowed us to dig it up. We were in my car and the bush had grown tremendously but I wouldn't let my mom trim any of it. It is a rambling rose bush so there were branches sticking out the windows as we drove. We planted it at my new little house and it thrived.




But, of course, the journey of Rossie's rose does not end there. In 1999 I met Rick, and we got married in February 2000. I sold my house and once again, had it written in the contract that I could come back and get my rose bush. Rick and I bought a house in July 2000, but both of us knew it wouldn't be the place that we stayed. We loved the house but hated the location and continued to look for our dream home.

In May 2003 we found our perfect house. In 2004, trusty shovel in hand, I once again went to retrieve Rossie's rose bush. It was massive! I don't know why I didn't think to take a picture of it before we moved it because it was huge and we had to cut a lot of it down to move it.

Once again, it survived the move and here it is below, 13 years later, in it's final resting place. I think Rossie would be proud that it is finally at home where it belongs, as am I.






Here's a picture of Rossie and I taken in front of another rose bush in her yard in 1992:



And of course, now I have a granddaughter of my own to photograph in front of Rossie's Roses. I wish she could have known her great, great grandmother.