Vibrant, beautiful, red azaleas. A garden dedicated to them- full of their stunning beauty.

My grandma has always loved azaleas but I’ve never known why they are so important to her… until we found ourselves at the hospital saying our final goodbyes.

Lucas, Annie and I all crowded around her deathbed, clinging to her last words. We brought azaleas thinking that it would brighten up the mood of her final day here on earth. Instead we got the full story- start to finish- explaining her love of azaleas.

“Your grandpa,” she began, “whom you never got to meet, was an awesome person. On our first date, he decorated our booth with red azaleas. From that moment on, every time I was down, he would bring me azaleas to cheer me up.”

We all leaned forward, clinging to each word she said.

“Now every time I see azaleas it reminds me of him and our everlasting love for each other.” 

“Wow,” I breathe.

“Guys,” Mom calls, “time to head out.”

As we walk out of the room, Annie bursts into tears.

“I’ll miss you Grandma.”

“Come on guys.” Mom ushers Annie out of the room.

The next day we found out that Grandma passed during the night. We were all devastated but I was slightly comforted by the story she told us. In her honor I decided to place Azaleas throughout my room to remind me of her everlasting love for me.

On the day of her funeral, me and my siblings walked into our church with heads high, wearing red clothes, and our hands full of Azaleas.

We definitely turned some heads but that only made us continue on stronger. We weren’t going to sit around and mourn our loss- we were going to get up and celebrate our beloved Grandma’s life.