The Rose Garden #R , #AtoZchallenge

Mom called the backyard Dad's rose-garden. It was a small plot of land at the back of the house. Everything but roses grew in that wild space. Weeds, long grasses, bushes of wild plants.Nobody actually had the time to take care of the plot. 

Dad always intended to. He had grand plans. He wanted it to be a beautiful garden with a manicured lawn and landscaped beds of roses. He was only a planner. Mom executed most of his plans and they made a great team. Gardening though was not her cup of tea.

Dad wanted to have his morning tea in that rose-garden sitting on a white wicker chair with a round glass top table. He had always planned to read his newspaper and sip his earl grey with cheese crackers. He also planned to listen to his music in the evenings there while having a drink or two.

Shruti, their daughter was the passive listener to all his plans. She wondered often as to why he didn't hire a gardener and get it done with. One day she asked mom. "He wants to do it himself. Its his retirement plan", said mom. She was as usual dismissive of the idea, even ridiculing it.

That day Shruti sweated all day stoically to remove the weeds and sow the grass. She manicured the flower beds, planted rose bushes of all types. The flowers will bloom in spring and all beds will have different coloured  roses. A set of white cane table and chairs was brought in. Then she spread his ashes all over the Rose Garden. The earl grey was steeping in the tea pot, so were the tears in the two women's eyes.