2. Flowers
"What was your mother like?" Patrick asked one morning over breakfast, two weeks after their wedding. Struck by the directness of his inquiry, Shelagh frowned.
Before she passed away, Shelagh's mother kept the most beautiful garden. Each year, as soon as spring's warmer promises filled the air; her mother donned her largest hat and retreated into their backyard to spend hours weeding overgrowth and gently coaxing her carefully planned bulbs out of the earth. By the very height of the season, their backyard would be covered in colorful, fragrant flowers.
It was the perfect sanctuary: a tranquil spot to enjoy tea and sandwiches as a family, and the only place her parents ever entertained guests. Shelagh remembers hot summers happily sprawled outside in the grass with her mother, watching her diligent work, playing with dolls, and learning to ride her first bike. Once, at the tender age of six, Shelagh announced that she wanted to be a princess for the day. She and her mother spent the rest of that morning plaiting Shelagh's blonde hair with bluebells and building daisy chains for her only subject: their reluctant family dog. Occasionally, her father would join them to read the paper with a cup of tea and several Henleys. On warmer days, she can still smell the lavender and tobacco mingled in the afternoon humidity.
After caring for her family, gardening was what her mother loved most. Though Shelagh never had the opportunity to get to know her as an adult, age and experience left her with the impression that she and her mother had much in common. They both treasured life in all its beauty and complexity; Shelagh with nursing, and her mother with gardening. This shared passion was a small comfort through several motherless years.
"I have very few memories of her that don't involve flowers in some way," Shelagh responded honestly, "I was a little younger than Timothy when she died."
"Flowers?"
"Yes, she loved to garden."
Patrick tilted his head in an uncharacteristic display of uncertainty. "Do you think she would have approved of me?"
Shelagh smiled and took a deep breath, inhaling the lingering scent of roses from the bouquet he had given her the previous evening.
"Darling, I think she would have loved you."
A/N: Thanks for reading! And if you're enjoying so far, please review. :)