My "Almost Mother's Day" Rose

  If I waited till the calendar says it's Mother's Day, the rose would be gone. So this is a week early. It's almost Mother's Day. This is not "just a rose". Here's the story, with many parts left out, but still a synopsis of the story of rose.

  In 1969 at my age of 16, I, Vicki Lynne Lord, lovingly married Eddie Ray Wisecup who was 18, and I adopted the rest of his family to take care of as well. There was the older brother Roger, still in the Marines fighting for our country in the Vietnam War. There was his little brother Ronnie, only about 13 years old at the time. And there was my new father-in-law Everett, or as most every one of the kids call him, Granddaddy 'Cup. Fonnie, Ray's younger sister, was already married to Donnie Smith and had given birth to Larie, the first grandchild who was almost a year old. 'Cup rented the house at 305 Curtis Street. Adjacent to that land was the famous 307 Curtis Street. Famous? Yes, just ask any of our kids.
 
  The empty house at 307 was not in living condition but as we lived at 305 we built it back up again, at around a cost of $2500. Love blossomed at 307 Curtis Street, as did this new rose bush as we built this house. The house was a very small, old frame house with two bedrooms and a bathroom with a door that opened up to the living room. Privacy nor modesty were not in our vocabulary back then. You could just leave the door open so you could watch TV while you were in there. Granddaddy Cup gave me and Ray this frame house after he purchased the two lots together for I think $1200 for both combined. This was only about five months into our marriage. Ray made about $65 a week, "bring home" pay. Groceries at the maximum were $18 per week. Once I spent $25 on groceries and was afraid to come home for fear I'd get chewed out for spending so much.  But he was quite kind and forgiving because food was a necessity. I was quite pregnant with the baby due on Aug. 10th.

  As we began rebuilding this house, where most likely many times prior, some other lovers had wonderful dreams of a loving family. This wildly climbing rose bush was at the front of the house, right between the steps and the bedroom window. I fell in love with the rose bush as I watched it bloom that spring when I was first married and pregnant, being careful not to damage it while we built the house. Each year this bush would be covered in roses and ever so beautiful. It was my pride and joy, a symbol of new beginnings and love.

  That June, we lost our baby girl. I remember someone telling me that since the baby died, I didn't have to stay married and they advised me to get a divorce so I could go back to school and to college to make a career for myself. I had never been around anyone who had gone to college and didn't even know what the word "career" really meant. I was shocked at that because I couldn't imagine any other life than being married and raising babies. (I was pregnant 7 times, losing four.) I was away from home, and could do what I want, buy the groceries I wanted, that is, within what $20 would buy, had a husband, a house, a dog named "LittleBit", and a rose bush. That was about it. But I was happy as could be.

  The roses came each Spring and would blossom nearly all year long. David Ray, our firstborn son was born March 10th, 1971 when I was 19 years old and we brought him home from Houston County Hospital to that house. When he was around two years old we moved away to Columbus, GA. Granddaddy Cup and Ronnie moved into our little house because it was in much better shape than the big old six room house at 305 Curtis Street they were living in which had the bathroom built onto the back porch. One year later, we were moving back from Columbus, but since they now lived in the house, we moved to Macon, Georgia near Mable White Baptist Church.

  We moved several times in our marriage of 26 years. Twice we moved back to the little old house at 307 Curtis Street. Tisha was around 5 during one of those times and I became pregnant with Eddie James, our third child. When delivery date came, I left for the hospital, and during my stay for a week at the Houston County Hospital, Ray moved us into the house on the property of Gilead Baptist Church in Macon, GA. I came home with a new baby boy to a "new" house. It too, was a very old house that we rented for $100 per month, and quite a struggle it was at that time to make those rental payments. We had three children by then, and were heavily involved with various church ministries. By then, Ray had been a pastor and was now attending bible classes at Gilead while our children went to the Christian Academy there. After five years we moved to Warner Robins again, this time to Charles Circle. This was our first "bought" house. We were there only a couple of years then moved to Conyers. Over these 26 years we moved at least 18 times. Seems like just when we'd get settled in, Ray would get antsy, change jobs, then we'd move. He didn't believe in buying a house. He didn't want to OWE anybody for a mortgage. We didn't have car payments either most of those years. We'd always find something to make do with. I could "ride" on this part of the story about a lot of things, but won't. It's not appropriate for this story.

  As life goes on, changes are inevitable. Around the time Eddie James was nine, Tisha was fifteen, and David was away in the Persian Gulf War, we had a family band beginning. We became quite well known for our unique performances. But drastically, we got a divorce in June of 1995. 307 Curtis Street stood vacant after Granddaddy 'Cup lived there. He developed diabetes and other ailments, lost one leg and then died. Ronnie lived there for a while, then after me and Ray divorced, Ray eventually moved back to it by himself. The rose was still there during all those years. Ray started back into music doing one-man shows. I was up in the west Atlanta area working on my career. Now I knew what a career was. Ray bought another house to live in from someone he knew I think, who gave him a very good deal. Once again, 307 Curtis Street was empty and void of the love once shared. But every year the rose continued to bloom with beautiful red roses whether the house was empty or not.

  The house wasn't empty long however. Eddie James left Conyers and moved into the house. He stayed there for a while eventually getting his girlfriend of the moment to leave. Then he met, fell in love with and moved in with Brandi Funk. And here we go again with 307 Curtis Street and the rose being un-nurtured. Eddie James had begun his own music career by now. Tisha was in school at Grady at that time. David was now married with children, living in Newnan. And Larie my niece, the first born, and first of the grandchildren to ever feel the thorn of the rosebush, now lives in Douglasville, with her family. And now, there are five grandchildren for me and Ray. David has Jacob Ray his firstborn, and with Kerrie has Destiny Deaton, Shania Lynne and Melina Brooke.  Eddie James and Brandi have precious little one year old Taylor Lynne. My brother David and his wife Julie have nurtured two beautiful children Jessica and Levi. They've always nurtured their roses well, too. See how love-roses multiply?

  Now back to the beginning of the story. Eddie James found out that his daddy had sold the land. He heard that it was going to be bulldozed and flattened out. One day when I was down there for one of Eddie's gigs, I told him "I'm GETTING THAT ROSE BUSH!!!!" before it's demolished with the house. We took garden tools. When we began trying to get this rose bush, we found it's roots were tangled immensely in the overgrown and wildly dangling Mimosa tree. It was extremely difficult trying to get it out. We broke one of the garden tools. But I was very determined this bush was going to live, and live forever!!!! We cut branches off at the base, some which had roots and some didn't. Truly, I doubted whether it would survive. My daddy L. D. Lord, told me that it would, but I'd have to keep it watered and let it develop roots before planting it. My mama Patsy, bless her resting soul, always loved my rose bush, too.

  I got the rose bush home to my current house at 474 Indian Hills Drive in Dallas, GA. I kept it in a 5 gallon bucket of water, keeping watch over it to see if it developed roots. That took about a year. Finally, I was able to plant two bushes from these branches, one on each side of my porch. That was two years ago.

  Yesterday I marvelled when I saw one tiny rose bloom. With anticipation as I pulled into my driveway today, I saw it. It was in full bloom. My beautiful rose bush of love is once again thriving.

  This symbolic rose resembles that of my heart. It's been through a lot of changes. The rose has thorns for protection of its beauty and livelihood. Like the rose my heart has developed thorns of protection. This rose still has life, just like me and my red heart, and this old symbolic red rose bush now blooms once more. My children will hopefully maintain this rose bush and keep it going forever. This rose bush is a never-ending story of love. That's what makes it different from being "just a rose." Nurture it, and like the many children and grandchildren who have come into my life and grown up knowing this rose bush, it like they, will blossom time and time again. They too, like the rose, will have their "un-nurtured feeling" times in life, but they'll come back around and true love will bloom ever so beautiful as this red rose bush has done, year after year developing their own protective thorns and bleeding with the pricks of those thorns of life, yet still growing into something beautiful.

  With love to all, Vicki Lynne, at 56 years of age, and there ain't no telling how old this rose bush is!!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!