The little boy crawled up in his Daddy's lap
as he rocked on the front porch.
It had been a long summer day and the smell
of the red roses was in the air.
"Daddy, what is love? "
His Daddy smiled. They had been to his big
sisters wedding that very day.
"Well,son love is like a rose. A beautiful
rose. In the beginning, it starts out as a
small bud. But as it begins to bloom, it
becomes all the more beautiful. The rains
come and water the rose. The Good Lord sends
the sunshine to help the rose grow. And the
more you plant of those roses, their
fragrance fills the garden and even this
here old front porch. That is love... the
more you show love to others, the better
this old world is.
Years later the young man returned home...
no one lived in the old house anymore but
yet, his Mama's roses were still blooming in
such a splendid profusion. He walked among
her rose garden taking in the beauty of it
all.
And long after he had left that place, he
could still smell the roses... and the
memories of the old home-place flooded his
very soul.
He could hear his Mama calling him to
dinner... the sound of his Daddy's tractor
in the field... see his sister walking down
the aisle on her wedding day...
He could see all the generations that had
come before them... and as he passed the
gate to the property the rosebushes his
grandmama had planted there... all of them
bright yellow were blooming. Years of love
had gone into this place... and years of
love had gone into him.
He smiled as he pulled out onto the main
highway... for he knew not only in his heart
but in his soul...
Love would always bring him back home... and
love would always make a difference.
The roses continue to bloom at the old
home-place and the love lives on and on...
