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You are here: Home / The Flower of Motherhood

The Flower of Motherhood

August 15, 2009 By Sherry Riter 16 Comments

A gardenia

My favorite flower is a gardenia. Its fragrance is beyond description…

I can get one whiff of it’s fragrance in the air and immediately know that there is a gardenia nearby.

When I was young and living in Virginia, we had quite a few gardenia bushes in our yard. When they bloomed, my little nose stayed buried in its flowery petals. More times than I can remember, I would sniff up a gnat or pollen. Nothing stopped me.

Now it has become the joke that I will take a petal, sniff really hard and cause the suction to keep the petal covering my nostril.

I know…I’m crazy.

If I am “out” and find a bush covered with fragrant blooming gardenia flowers, Alyssa will immediately say, “DON’T embarrass me.”

What makes her say such a thing?

One day Alyssa and I were in Home Depot looking at EVERYTHING. I could spend a day in that store and I don’t even like shopping. We eventually made our way to the garden supplies and what to my amazement did we find?

Gardenia bushes!

I need to interject that the store was empty. I know that is unusual, but really, no one was around. So I found a fallen petal on the concrete and held it up to my nose.

It is like the drug they give you before you go into surgery. Everything feels right and I feel rather “floaty.”

Then the imp takes over and I look at Alyssa who is glaring at me and daring me to act out of line. Sometimes she can be so old.

I couldn’t help myself. I sniffed really hard and the petal covered my nostril hole.

I smiled big and kept sniffing while wiggling my booty as if I could really dance. Alyssa furrowed her brow and sternly said, “Mo-om!”

I just kept on acting silly and trying to “make a moment” with my child.

Her face was turning red. I didn’t know if it was from anger or embarrassment. No one was in the store so surely it couldn’t be embarrassment.

Or could it?

I took the petal off my nose and turned around.

There stood an older gentlemen staring at me like I was an alien.

I’m sure I blushed, but then I thought…

What the heck! I created “a moment” with Alyssa…one she won’t soon forget. A moment when she sees me as not just her mom, but as a woman.

Just as she started out like a gardenia bud, she is blooming into a beautiful young woman…

Alyssa smelling flowersAlyssa by the riverAlyssa at a restaurant on ther 16th birthdayAlyssa at her 2009 10th grade prom

Some day she will be sniffing petals in the middle of Home Depot while embarrassing her children.

I heard that…Yes you will!

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Filed Under: Memory

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. MelRoXx says

    August 15, 2009 at 7:35 am

    I agree with you, I like that flower too!

    Reply
  2. Deva84 says

    August 15, 2009 at 7:48 am

    Thank you for stopping by!

    You've got beautiful daughter!
    I want to change my image now… and I want to have her hair! blond beautiful hair! Hopefully till the end of the year I will have it!

    bisous!

    Reply
  3. Equidae says

    August 15, 2009 at 9:26 am

    lovely post :)I can sniff a whif of that gorgeous smell from here 🙂 ahhhh it would be nice if i can have a couple of bushes back home but no place for them 🙁

    Reply
  4. Jeanette says

    August 15, 2009 at 3:37 pm

    My 24 year old just told me that he misses me and thinks I gave him a great childhood. Apparently he has forgotten all the times that I embarassed him….and there were plenty. I say embarass away…and you daughter is beautiful!

    Reply
  5. Amy says

    August 15, 2009 at 5:29 pm

    Thanks for stopping by from SITS. It was nice to have you. I loved this post. Your daughter is very pretty. I would be caught by the gerber daisies for hours.

    Reply
  6. AB HOME Interiors says

    August 15, 2009 at 6:36 pm

    Your daughter is stunning. I just planted gardenias in the front of my store. I love the smell as you enter the store. Its lovely!

    Reply
  7. Kimi says

    August 15, 2009 at 8:12 pm

    Your daughter is so pretty. Yes someday she will be the one embarrassing her own children. 🙂

    Reply
  8. Under the Influence says

    August 15, 2009 at 9:31 pm

    What a beauty – the flower and your daughter!

    Reply
  9. Navyvet says

    August 16, 2009 at 2:20 am

    Your daughter is beautiful and photogenic. I hope her countenance never changes. Her Mom is very talented, loving, and compassionate. Many wonderful memories are brought to mind when I read your blog.

    Reply
  10. Kristin says

    August 16, 2009 at 2:38 am

    I wore a silk one in my hair for my wedding. Ahhhhhhh memories. She is gorgeous btw!!

    Reply
  11. Kimberly says

    August 16, 2009 at 3:59 am

    I often feel the need to place a rose petal on my nose and just walk around like that 🙂

    Reply
  12. Shawn De Costa says

    August 16, 2009 at 3:05 pm

    I too agree with you. Very interesting blog buddy. I'm ubuntusl thanks

    Reply
  13. Frantic Holly says

    August 16, 2009 at 6:43 pm

    How sweet!

    Reply
  14. Peterson Family says

    August 17, 2009 at 12:36 am

    I love gardenias too! And your daughter is beautiful!

    Reply
  15. shraddha@theselfloveproject says

    August 17, 2009 at 5:44 am

    awww…how sweet..

    Reply
  16. Sandy says

    August 17, 2009 at 11:01 am

    Your daugther is beyond lovely. I remember trying to grow gardenias when I was in my first apartment. They were not easy! But so worth it. The smell is wonderful.

    Reply

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