Whenever I see a rose I think of my mother. Of course, my mother has long since passed away, but the sight of a beautiful rose always makes me think of her.

I was a lonely teenager. You know the kindthe dorky little sit by the wall girl who no-one ever noticed. I spend my high school years being profoundly unnoticed, especially by boys. I can't remember ever going on a real date, or being asked to dance at a dance, or even receiving a phone call from even the dorkiest guy. I used to think that all the good things in life happened to other people, but never to me. There were a lot of times I remember crying into my pillow at night wishing I were anyone else but me. I didn't know what to do with my life or what was to become of me. I wanted to be a real person who loved and lived life like everyone else. I felt lost and lonely, and I didn't think I would ever have a future that would be any different.

All through that time, my mother was always there. I know she knew my pain, although she never talked to me about it. Sometimes I wished I could talk about it, but my heart was too hurt. My mother knew enough at the time to keep quiet and still be near enough to support me.

The time that I remember most was the time I spent with my mother in her garden. She loved her flowers, and most especially the roses. She would putter around the plants, loosening the soil and clipping dead leaves. And she talked while she worked, often about very general things but sometimes she would tell little stories.

My mother told me this story one day: "You know sweetie, a flower can tell you a lot about life because our lives are a lot like theirs. They usually start by being small and wrinkled and not very pretty at all. When you see a small little seed, it is nothing. That's kind of like a baby, isn't it? But what is inside that seed has a lot of potential, just like a baby does. With the seed you need to nourish it and give it the right environment to grow. It needs soil and fertilizer, water and sunlight. And a baby needs food and milk and other similar things to help it grow. And they both need love too. A baby can't grow without love, but neither can a seed. If you put a seed in a hostile environment, how well does it do? The same with a baby. But if you provide a loving environment the baby, and the seed, will thrive. The seed will turn into a plant and the baby will grow up into a child and beyond. Sometimes though it takes a while.

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