The Mathe Rose Garden
The little rose bush stood in the city park.It was a wonderful spot to be rooted,surrounded by trees and having a view of the great stone fountain where stone angel's poured water from pitchers and children laughed.
Little birds tiptoed around the fountain's edge like tiny dancers.Butterflies flitted about from bush to bush and bees hummed a lazy tune in the warm air that also carried the rich golden scent of the flower garden.
"Oh it is so very grand to be alive today,"sighed Mathe rose.Seeing the way the children were drawn to the daisies,weaving them into chains,seeing lovers gather up the big red roses,Mathe sighed with longing."Pick me,"she wished."Choose me.Notice me.Take me to your love.Wear me in your hair.Carry me on the wedding day."
But day after day,season after season she was passed over.While there were many kinds of flowers in the park,Mathe rose was a rare and beautiful copper colored rose.Not a large bush.Not showy or overly proud.The flowers on each stem were tiny as tea roses that could fit neatly in a baby's hand.
Many passed her by,not realizing how very fine the little rose bush was.She had not been created in a laboratory by a scientist as so many modern wonders tend to be,but by the powers of light and being that created all the planet's natural wonders.
The scent of this little rose bush was not overpowering.It was soft as a butterfly's wing and seemed to help those who breathed it to remember something good and sweet and fine about the world.
Her color was bold and vibrant as a spark in the sunset sky,but only those who looked carefully ever saw this.As a matter of fact,the other flowers were so strong and so large that by and by they grew right around and over the little rose bush.
Mathe was almost completely hidden from view.The water of the fountain flowed and sparkled in the sun and Mathe could hear the murmur of the watering angels as they poured."Do not be sad little one,"they told her."Every flower blooms and is seen by those who need what it has to offer.Let the others pass.Do not be sad.
"Mathe listened to the watering angels and kept right on blooming no matter how thick the other flowers became.
Then one day the skies grew dark and the wind blew and the rain came down like water pouring from one of the stone angels.When the storm had passed many of the flowers had been beaten down around her.
On that morning as the flowers lay in ruins a little boy came into the park.His face was streaked with water that did not come from the rains.Big tears rolled from his brown eyes and he wiped them away.
He was not alone.He had come to the park with his father to look for flowers to take to his grandmother who had become very sick.She was not sick in her body but in her heart.Granddad had passed away from life and since then,Gran had not been the same.She had stopped going to the park and seeing friends and had taken to her bed to close life away and wait for her time to go.
But today when the boy had gone to visit she said she missed the days when they went to the park.When his father saw that the storm had broken all the flowers he told the boy that they would have to go and buy flowers at the store instead.
The boy began to cry."I promised to bring Gran a flower from her favorite park,"the boy said to his father."She said not to spend my money,but to bring her one that I pick.She said she wanted something from Angels' Park because this is our place for making good memories."
So it was that the boy and his father began to search through the ruined garden for something beautiful."It is no use son,"said the father."There is nothing left here.We will buy a flower.Gran won't know the difference."
The child would not give up his quest."I will know the difference,"he said to his father."Gran will know too."Mathe knew this boy.She had seen him and his grandmother and grandfather many times.They liked to feed the little birds and pitch copper coins into the fountain and make wishes.As Mathe thought about the boy and his family she held herself straight and tall and reached toward the sun.A little breeze stirred her and that scent,soft as a butterfly's wing and filled with the sweetness of life,drifted to the boy and his father.
They turned just as the sun came out from behind a cloud and made the rain-wet copper of her tiny petals sparkle like dozens of new pennies in the fountain.The child rushed to her and knelt down."Look,"he shouted to his father."It looks like it's on fire.It smells like a good memory.This is perfect."Carefully, the child snapped off one tiny branch that supported three tiny copper roses."One for you,one for me and one for Gran,"the boy said."Perfect."
While Mathe could not go with the child,the part of her that was with him could see everything that happened from that moment on.
Mathe watched the boy and his father walk off.Then she saw the room and the bed with the white sheets and the tiny old woman asleep in the bed.Mathe could see vases filled with every kind of flower imaginable and she worried that the old woman might be disappointed.
The boy took the little sprig of flowers and used the little copper petals to stroke the old cheek of the lady who meant so much to him.Mathe felt a shiver of warmth.Then she watched the change take place.The old woman's breath has been weak,But when she breathed in the scent of the flowers she breathed deep and strong.
A smile lit her face and her eyes opened.She looked at the child and then at the tiny copper roses.She took another deep breath of the perfume of good memories and love that the flowers brought with them from the park.
"A Mathe rose as I live and breathe,"Said Gran in a voice that suddenly sounded stronger than it had in days."Why I haven't seen one of these since I was a little girl.How did you find it child?"
The boy grinned,"I went to Angels' Park and all the flowers were broken by the storm and this was the only flower bush left standing in the whole garden."Gran nodded her head and took the tiny sprig of roses in her hand.
"You know, they say that anybody can find a red rose in the garden.Most can weave a daisy chain on a summer day.But it takes someone looking with love in their eyes to find a Mathe rose to chase the sadness away."
Then Gran sat up and to everyone's great surprise she got out of bed and began to dress
for an outing.When she was finished she took the little sprig of flowers and put it in a tiny crystal vase by a sunny window where the roses sparkled.
Then she turned to the boy and said,"I am feeling like a walk around Angels' Park this afternoon.Since your Granddaddy isn't here now I think we ought to have your Daddy come penny wishing with us."
The boy and his father both smiled.When they arrived at the park it was almost sunset and the long golden rays fell over the garden.
Gran saw the little rose bush glimmering there.Then she looked around at the ruined flowers all around and began to roll up her sleeves."Seems like we have some work to do on this garden," she said.
Then she smiled and took a deep breath filled with the scent of the copper roses.She remembered all that she loved about living.
So it was that the new flowers were planted in a circle around the littlest,but most lasting rose bush in the garden.
A little stone marker was set in front of the little bush that read:"Mathe Rose - a rare flower to help us remember our joy."
In the spring of the next year people still were drawn to the bright red roses and children still made their chains out of daisies.Only now everyone noticed the little bush and the sign beneath.
That one tiny bush with its copper penny blossoms is the reason people are always reminding each other to stop and smell the roses.
