Date: Tue, 06 May 2014 17:01:55 -0400
From: “N.A. Booko”
Subject: Mother’s Day, flowers and traditions . . .
My Mother died one December when I was eight years old, I knew nothing about death. Never saw a dead person, never saw a coffin lowered into the earth and had never heard of Mother’s Day. Nor I had heard of any traditionsassociated with Mother’s day. Since Mother’s day was only a few months away from the time my Mother died-
I learned a lot. In my neck of the woods, in Montgomery County, at least, on Mother’s day, women wore a corsage of roses and men wore a single rose on their lapel. If you Mother was living, you wore red and if your Mother was dead, you wore a while rose.
Mother’s day also coincided with what was called ‘Memorial Day’ at the cemetery where my Mother was buried. Everyonedecorated the graves with home made crepe paper flowers and brought food for a big community Sunday dinner.
Naturally, I had to wear a while rose in my lapel- All of this was new to me. It was astounding the number of people that were shocked that a child so young would be wearing a white rose, and feel sorry for me. I would then take them and show them my Mother’s grave. If I had been wearing a red rose, I would have had no attention at all. Not sure that I felt too bad about the attention at the time.
Wondering if that tradition still exists. At least I have never noticed it here in Chatham County. For years I would drive from Chatham over to Moore county to her grave, to put on flowers. Usually a few days in advance. Then the mean-ness of people stealing the flowers got to be too much. And now, flowers are not even wanted on the graves- it interferes with mowing.
I have missed my Mother so much during these seventy years- I know she would have been proud of me- what I’ve done with my life.
I won’t have any white roses in bloom the Sunday- but it doesn’t matter- I remember and honor my Mother in my own quite way, without leaving home . . . No one can steal that from me . . .
N.A. Booko
(N.A. Booko lives and remembers in Chatham county)