My Easter Rose Tree

I've been away for awhile. Life can get pretty busy managing three very active little boys!
Today my boys and I planted a rose tree that my husband gave to me a few years ago for Easter. He had wanted to surprise me that year with two beautiful pink rose trees. A few days before Easter, he became ill and was admitted to the hospital. That was back before his kidney transplant, he was on dialysis and was having a lot of medical complications due to his kidney failure. There have been so many times that it was 'touch and go' with him. And it was only by the grace of God that he survived. (Obviously God wasn't ready to call him home!) This was one of those "iffy" situations, as he was in pretty bad shape... I'll never forget him telling me that if he never made it home, that he had placed my Easter present in the garage... and I had to promise that I would go and look for it in there... Our garage is not for parking cars... we use it as a woodshop, and for storage, but never for parking cars!! :)
I choked back tears and told him that I knew he was going to be alright, and that he could give me whatever it was when we got him home... but again he made me promise that if he didn't come home, I wouldn't forget to go and get his gift. So I did. I cried all the way home that night, I prayed, I waited and trusted in God. Well, long story short, he did make it home, and on Easter morning, there were two beautiful rose trees sitting on my front walk. I cried. they were beautiful! I picked out a special place for them, one on each side of my front bay window, so that they were the first thing I saw when I looked outside. Over the years, they have grown and flourished! Imagine my deep sadness when I discovered last summer that a gopher had eaten the roots completely off of one of my beloved trees... I was determined to try to re-root it. I placed it in a pot of soil and have been diligently watering a bare tree for the past 9 months. Imagine my delight this spring when I discovered the first tiny green leaves sprouting all over the barren branches! I continued nurturing it along in the pot, waiting for the day when the tender roots would be established enough to be planted once again in the ground... Well, today was that day! Blessings to you today as you discover joy in simple things.