Monday, October 2, 2017

Mama's Rose Jar

Mama passed away in June from cancer, which we didn't know she had until about a week and a half before she died. There were many beautiful flowers and other memory gifts at her funeral, and I didn't even see the beautiful rose basket from one of her nieces until we went back to the cemetery after the reception. All of the potted plants, throws, etc were in the back of our SUV, and since mama's only living sister was leaving after the funeral, I gave her some of the potted plants to take home with her.

There, among all the other plants was a small basket with a dozen beautiful cut red, yellow, and peach colored roses arranged beautifully with some fern, daises, and strawflowers in it. So delicate looking!

I wanted so badly to preserve them in some way while they were still fresh and beautiful, but I had lost my voice during the funeral, and the day after my husband and I both came down with one of those awful flu/virus things and we were very sick for three weeks. By that time the roses had died, but I still couldn't bear to throw them away, and left them sitting on my piano drying for several weeks.

I was afraid they'd fall apart if I touched them.

I found many ways of preserving dried flowers on Pinterest, but I particularly liked putting them in a pretty jar.

One day while I was doing some stuff in mama's house, I noticed the jar she kept her sweetners in, sitting on top of the wooden breadbox on the counter. Perfect! I emptied the jar, brought it home, and washed it, but it was still several days before I got up the nerve to try putting the roses in it.

I was still afraid of them falling apart.

But the day came when I was brave enough, thinking if they fell apart I would just put the petals in the jar and save them.

Luckily I had some long surgeon's tweezers that had been given to me years ago to place the roses down in the jar, because my hand wouldn't fit.


The roses were tougher than I thought and didn't fall apart when I cut the stems off. Of course, I handled them carefully and held my breath! The jar fit them exactly with some empty space in the center, which I filled with the strawflowers and a small packet of silica gel to help absorb moisture. 


I folded the sweet note from my cousin and lay it on top of the roses, and along with the small yellow ribbon from the basket on top of the note, I put the glass lid on to top it off and let out my breath. It was done and I didn't lose a single petal, besides a couple that had come off from handling during the funeral process! I tried putting some of the leaves in, but they were too fragile and crumbled easily.


I am not a pro at arranging flowers, but I'm very happy with how the rose jar turned out. It looks vintage to me...


Mama's roses are in her jar, and in this photo, sitting on a doily that she crocheted many years ago and gave to me shortly before she died.


I don't know why, for sure, that I was so drawn to the rose basket out of all the beautiful plants and flowers at mama's funeral, but I think, somehow, it was like a beautiful reminder that I also watched helplessly as it died and became a beautiful shell of what it once was.

Mama's shell is gone, but her spirit and essence lives on through me and those that loved her. The freshness and live beauty of the roses is gone, but their essence lives on through the beauty of their dried petals, which I can now hopefully keep and treasure for a long time to come.

I don't need anything to remind me of mama, and I don't know how long they will last like this, but I love this jar of roses for her and will think of her especially every time I look at it.

I love and miss you so much, Mama!

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