Remember

She was busy. The day hadn’t started very well and hadn’t gotten any better. Oversleeping had been the beginning of her lousy day. The kids didn’t have time for breakfast and barely made the bus. Her husband woke up on the wrong side of the bed for the third morning in a row. The laundry needed done; there were groceries to buy, and pies to bake for the Church Social. And now the door bell was ringing; like she had time to visit this morning. Whoever had the nerve to bother her was going to get a piece of her mind.

On the way to the door, she hooked her toe on the end table and fell hard. She lay there a moment fighting back the tears. Was the overwhelming urge to cry from the pain of falling or the pain in her heart? She didn’t know; it all felt the same, a sharp pain leaving her breathless. As she lay there, the sobbing racking her whole body, the door bell rang again. Jangling her last nerve and jerking her back to the here and now.

Standing slowly, she made her way to the door. Wiping the tears from her eyes she peeked out and saw a bouquet of deep red roses.

“Great,” she thought, “he has the wrong address.” Nobody would be sending her flowers. She couldn’t even remember the last time she had gotten flowers. Most certainly hadn’t been from Grumpy. She opened the door and waited, toe throbbing and arms crossed impatiently over her chest.

“Delivery for Mrs. Helkin?” the delivery man announced. She saw him take in her swollen eyes and tear stained face as she stood in the doorway. She gave him a doubtful look and watched as he double checked his clipboard and the number above the door. “Mrs. Helkin? Delivery?”

Bewildered, she took the flowers and thanked him. As she looked for the card she closed the door behind her. Her pain forgotten, she dug through the deep red roses searching for the answer. A dozen roses, who would send her a single rose, let alone a dozen. She had found the card and set the roses on the counter while she ripped open the little envelope with "Mae" written on the front. The card had but one word written on it. "Remember".

Remember what? Who had sent these lovely roses?

Bewildered she got a stool and got down the only vase she owned. My, but it had been a long time since she had seen it. It was the only thing her mother had passed down to her. Tenderly she washed it and refilled it with water. Setting it on the counter, she carefully put the roses in one by one and arranged them, just as she had seen her mother do so long ago. Had they been deep red roses? It had been too long, she couldn’t remember.

Putting the mystery behind her, she emptied the washer and loaded it up with the second of many. Leaning over the basket, she lifted the wet clothes into the dryer and started it. Now she could run to the store to pick up the few things she needed for the pies.

As she limped through the kitchen on her way out she caught a glimpse of the deep red roses. Her breath caught in her throat...she remembered.

Ben! She had never known his last name. He had only known her as Mae. They had met on the ferry that last summer she had spent with her mother. He had bought her deep red roses the last day they were together. They had only talked those evenings on the ferry, but there was a connection, a common bond that she hadn’t felt before or since. Oh, that was so long ago. Before she and Crumpy had married, before the kids, before everything it seemed.

It was then that her train of thought took her back to a conversation they had shared. They told each other of the dreams they had and the expectations they held. As she recalled those dreams she realized they had all come true. She had all she had ever wanted and more. As for her expectations, they had been exceeded in every way. But, she had forgotten. She had forgotten and lost her way in the dull day-to-day routine that had become her love, her family, her life.