FULL CIRCLE
Chapter 60
After leaving the house, Miles headed for a flower shop to purchase some roses. They had always been his mother's favorite flower and he wanted to take some when he visited her grave.
"Can I help you, Sir?" the young woman at the counter asked when she saw the young man enter the shop.
"I'd like to purchase some roses," Miles answered.
"We have quite a wide selection if you'd care to take a look. Is there anything particular you're looking for?" she inquired.
"Not really. Roses were my mother's favorite. I think she liked all kinds," he answered.
"They're for her grave?" At his nod, she continued. "May I suggest a bouquet of mixed red and white tied with a large beige bow? I can put them in a special vase for you."
"Sounds good. How much do I owe you?" Miles asked.
She quickly rang it up and told him the price. "It will only take a few minutes to get the bouquet made up," she said once he paid.
"Okay," Miles said. He watched her gather up the roses and head into the back room. Hands in his pockets, he looked around at the various flower arrangements on display while he waited.
"Here you are, Sir," the young woman said as she returned a few minutes later with the bouquet securely wrapped in tissue paper.
"Thank you," Miles said as he took his purchases and headed for the car. Once inside, he laid the flowers on the passenger seat and reached for the map to look up the easiest route to the cemetery.
Although he'd only been to the grave when his mother was buried, he still had a general idea of the location. It didn't take him long to locate the grave and he stood reading the headstone. "Margret
Rose McCabe--Beloved wife and mother. Absent from our lives but forever in our hearts."
As he stood reading, he was clutching the roses so tightly that that the thorns were poking through the tissue paper and into his fingers. He absently rubbed them on his pants as he recalled the
last time he'd seen her. Not when he'd watched her die in the hospital--he couldn't bring himself to think about that. Instead he recalled her last visit to see him.
xxxxx
Because of Medical School classes and the strained relationship with his father, Miles rarely went home to visit. So several times a year Margret would fly east to see him. She'd coax him away from his studies and fix him all his favorite foods.
This had been one of those visits and now it was time for Margret to return home. Miles drove her to the airport and they had their usual parting at the boarding gate. As they stood waiting for her
flight to be called, she smiled and reached out to ruffle his hair affectionately. It was times like these that she had to remind herself that he wasn't her baby, her little boy anymore.
Miles stepped back a few paces and ducked his head. "Mom, one of these days I'm gonna get a haircut so you can't do it anymore," he told her.
"Miles, promise me that you'll come home for a visit this summer," Margret said.
"I promise," he said, watching as the passengers began boarding. "Mom, you'd better get going before you miss the flight."
"Take care, Miles." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and picking up her bags, headed to board the plane. "I love you."
"You too, Mom," he said softly as he watched her disappear inside.
xxxxx
Returning his attention to the present Miles knelt before the grave and placed the flowers in the ground. There he stayed for awhile just thinking about the good times they'd shared.