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| “No, Johnny, you can’t. Mama’s gone.” “Gone where? To the hospital?” “No, Johnny, Mama’s gone to Heaven. Mama’s passed away.” I ran from Pa’s arms out into woods, throwing the flowers this way and that. I fell down on the ground and cried and cried. Finally I felt strong hands picking me up from the ground. I looked at Pa and asked, “What about Mama’s red rose? She promised she would be here for me to buy her a red rose.” Pa didn’t know what I was talking about. “You mean your wildflowers?” |
| I shook my head. “I promised Mama a red rose when I was old enough to get a job.” |
| I started crying harder. “Now she won’t be here so I can give it to her.” The day before the funeral, Ms. Nelly Smith from down in the valley asked if she could make Mama a new dress. Pa told her that would be nice of her, and he was sure that Mama would appreciate it. Ms. Nelly and Mama had been friends since grade school. I guess the entire town was there at the funeral, folks I knew and folks I didn’t know. When I asked Pa if he knew any of those people, he said they were friends of Mama’s from school. It was standing room only. I never knew Mama had so many friends. Before the funeral, Pa, Billy Ray, Mary Sue, and I walked up to where Mama was lying. When Pa saw the dress that Mama was wearing, he broke down in tears. It was the first time I had ever seen Pa cry. I was too short to see Mama, so Pa had a stool put by Mama so I could see her. I placed some wildflowers in her hand. Her dress was almost the same colors as the wildflowers I had gotten for her. Mama, why couldn’t you wait till I got you a red rose? I asked silently. I swore I heard Mama say, “Johnny, the flowers you brought home to me, and these flowers here, are my red roses. They are more beautiful than a dozen red roses.” We buried Mama out behind the house and planted a field of wildflowers. We knew she would be happy there. After the funeral was over, we went back to the house with Pa. Pa had us three children sit down, and he got out the family Bible. “I want you children to see a picture that your ma has been keeping for many years,” he said. Pa let us look at the photograph of him and Mama in their wedding attire. The dress Mama was wearing at her funeral could have been the same dress that she got married in. We all knew that Mama would be happy wearing that dress. |
| Several years passed by. Billy Ray went off to Michigan, got married, and had four children. Mary Sue married a local boy from town, and they had three children. Pa and I lived in the old run-down mountain home. Billy Ray and Mary Sue tried to get us to move in with one of them, but he said he did not want to leave Mama. I stayed in the old house with Pa, got a job when I was sixteen, and took care of him the best I could. I found a beautiful bride when I was twenty-three. I gave her a bouquet of red roses on her first Mother’s Day. We had a beautiful son we named Jerry Dale. Pa passed away shortly after Jerry was born, so my son never did get to know his grandpa. We boarded up the old house and moved into town. I go up to the house every now and then, but I don’t stay very long, as the memories are still fresh in my mind. I have a job as a newspaper editor, and my wife Molly Ann is my assistant. One of Mama’s friends keeps Jerry Dale while we are at work, and every time we go to pick him up, she tells us a story about her and Mama. |
| It seemed like our lives had just begun when my wife became very ill. I watch my son as he brings flowers to his mother. Mama, watching him do this sure brings back a lot of memories. I have to go outside sometimes so they can’t see me cry. Maybe someday I will hear him say the same words to his Mama: “Mama, if you will wait till I am old enough to get a job, I will buy you a red rose.” |
| Happy Mother’s Day to you, dear Mama, Even though it’s twenty years since you’ve been gone. Happy Mother’s Day to you, dear Mama, I’ll bring a red rose to you myself someday. |
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