The flowers arrived in a paper cup.<\/p>\n
Tommy carried it carefully through the front door, holding it with both hands.<\/p>\n
There were three yellow flowers inside.<\/p>\n
They had long green stems and small petals that leaned in different directions.<\/p>\n
One of them was already beginning to droop.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook what I brought.\u201d<\/p>\n
I set down the wrench I was holding.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose are some good-looking flowers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey're for the shop.\u201d<\/p>\n
He walked toward the workbench, moving slowly so the water wouldn't spill.<\/p>\n
Tiny came in from the back room and saw him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose for Buddy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Tommy shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cDogs don't need flowers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tiny considered that.<\/p>\n
\u201cBuddy has never told me that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tommy grinned.<\/p>\n
Then he placed the cup beside the coffee pot.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did you get them?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the store with Aunt Helen.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid she help you pick them?\u201d<\/p>\n
He nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said my mother liked yellow.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the flowers again.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember you telling me that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe liked yellow cups, too. And yellow towels.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe must have liked the color.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said it looked like sunshine you could hold.\u201d<\/p>\n
I had no answer to that.<\/p>\n
It was the sort of thing a person said once and never knew another person would remember for years.<\/p>\n
Tommy looked at the cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to bring some here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI'm glad you did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCan they stay?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked around the shop.<\/p>\n
There wasn't much that could be called delicate in Rex's Custom Cycles.<\/p>\n
We had metal shelves, heavy workbenches, old tires, boxes of parts, and a coffee pot that had survived more neglect than any appliance deserved.<\/p>\n
But there was a small space near the window where the afternoon light came through.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey can stay right there,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
Tommy adjusted the cup so it sat in the sunlight.<\/p>\n
Then he stepped back to examine it.<\/p>\n
\u201cLooks nice,\u201d Wheels said.<\/p>\n
Tommy nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cYellow is my mother's color.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wheels glanced at me, then back at Tommy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we'll have to make sure we take care of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tommy looked serious.<\/p>\n
\u201cFlowers need water.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood thing we have water,\u201d Wheels said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd they need sunlight.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAlso available.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you can't pull the petals off.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wheels raised both hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cI promise not to pull the petals off the flowers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tommy seemed satisfied.<\/p>\n
Tank came over and looked at the cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cThree flowers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOne for each day?\u201d Tiny asked.<\/p>\n
Tommy shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne, two, three.\u201d<\/p>\n
He counted them again with his finger.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just wanted three.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nobody asked him why.<\/p>\n
Sometimes a child knew what he wanted before he could explain it.<\/p>\n
We returned to work.<\/p>\n
The flowers stayed beside the coffee pot.<\/p>\n
Every now and then, Tommy glanced over to make sure they hadn't fallen.<\/p>\n
He checked the cup after Tiny moved it to make room for a toolbox.<\/p>\n
He checked again when Wheels nearly knocked it with his elbow.<\/p>\n
By lunchtime, I began to understand that the flowers were not simply flowers to him.<\/p>\n
They were a way of bringing something from his mother into a place where she had never been.<\/p>\n
He was sharing a memory without having to explain every part of it.<\/p>\n
When we sat down to eat, Tommy remained in his chair with his sandwich.<\/p>\n
He took a bite, chewed carefully, and looked at the cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cBear?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you think my mother would like this shop?\u201d<\/p>\n
I put down my sandwich.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish I could tell you for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don't know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI never met her, Tommy. I can't pretend I know exactly what she would think.\u201d<\/p>\n
He nodded slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I know what you've told me about her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said she sang while making breakfast. You said she liked yellow flowers. You said she let you sit beside her when you were quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tommy listened.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose things make me think she cared about the little things,\u201d I continued. \u201cAnd this shop is full of little things that matter to people.\u201d<\/p>\n
He glanced at the crooked chair.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike my chair?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLike your chair.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Buddy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDefinitely Buddy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the drawings?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThose, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
He took another bite of his sandwich.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen maybe she would like it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe she would.\u201d<\/p>\n
He seemed content with that answer.<\/p>\n
I had learned not to offer him certainty I didn't possess.<\/p>\n
Children deserved honesty, even when the truth was that we didn't know.<\/p>\n
Especially then.<\/p>\n
After lunch, Tommy asked if he could water the flowers.<\/p>\n
I found a small plastic bottle and filled it halfway.<\/p>\n
He poured slowly, stopping when the soil around the stems looked damp.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot too much,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat's right.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cToo much water can hurt them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEven good things can hurt if there's too much.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tommy looked at me.<\/p>\n
I hadn't meant to make a lesson out of watering flowers, but he seemed to be thinking about the words.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike helping?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
I nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n
He put the bottle down.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes people need help, and sometimes they need to do things themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat's a pretty good way to put it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked pleased.<\/p>\n
Then he carried the bottle to the sink and returned to his chair.<\/p>\n
A little later, Helen arrived to pick him up.<\/p>\n
She saw the flowers immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, sweetheart.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tommy stood beside the workbench.<\/p>\n
\u201cI brought them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can see that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey're for the shop.\u201d<\/p>\n
Helen moved closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey're beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey need water, but not too much.\u201d<\/p>\n
She smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI'll remember that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tommy touched one of the petals gently.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey look like the flowers Mom liked.\u201d<\/p>\n
Helen's smile softened.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, they do.\u201d<\/p>\n
For a moment, she seemed uncertain about what to say next.<\/p>\n
Then she knelt beside him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI miss seeing her buy flowers,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Tommy looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVery much. She used to bring them home even when there wasn't a special reason.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe put them by the kitchen window.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Helen looked at the paper cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember the yellow ones she bought one spring. She put them in an old jar because we couldn't find a vase.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tommy's eyes widened.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom had a jar?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had several jars. Your mother believed almost anything could become a vase.\u201d<\/p>\n
He laughed.<\/p>\n
It was a surprised little laugh, the kind that escaped before sadness had time to stop it.<\/p>\n
Helen smiled through her own grief.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you remember that?\u201d<\/p>\n
Tommy nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said the flowers didn't care what they were in.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was right.\u201d<\/p>\n
They stood together for a moment.<\/p>\n
Then Tommy took Helen's hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan we buy flowers again sometime?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d she said. \u201cWe can.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at the cup one last time.<\/p>\n
\u201cWill they be here when I come back?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey'll be here,\u201d I told him.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the chair?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStill here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the drawings?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStill here.\u201d<\/p>\n
He smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n
Helen walked him toward the door.<\/p>\n
Before they left, she turned back to the flowers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you for letting him bring them.\u201d<\/p>\n
I shrugged.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey're good company.\u201d<\/p>\n
She nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think they are.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the door closed, the shop felt quieter than before.<\/p>\n
Tank came over and studied the flowers.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour place is getting fancy, Bear.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon't spread that around. It'll ruin my reputation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tiny brought Buddy inside for a moment, and the dog sniffed the air near the cup.<\/p>\n
Tommy's flowers had become part of the shop.<\/p>\n
They were a small thing, but small things were often how people made room for each other.<\/p>\n
The next morning, I found the cup still standing in the sunlight.<\/p>\n
One flower had drooped farther than the others.<\/p>\n
I trimmed the stem, added a little water, and moved the cup away from the edge of the workbench.<\/p>\n
I wasn't trying to preserve a symbol.<\/p>\n
I was taking care of something a boy had brought us because it reminded him of his mother.<\/p>\n
That was reason enough.<\/p>\n
When Tommy returned that afternoon, he checked the flowers before he checked his chair.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey're still alive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoing their best.\u201d<\/p>\n
He leaned close to examine the petals.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe they'll last until Friday.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
He nodded, then went to sit down.<\/p>\n
The flowers didn't erase his grief.<\/p>\n
They didn't need to.<\/p>\n
They gave him one more way to remember someone he loved while living the life he still had in front of him.<\/p>\n
And that was something we could help him do.<\/p>\n
The flowers arrived in a paper cup. Tommy carried it carefully through the front door, holding it with both hands. There were three yellow flowers inside. They had long green … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40018"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40018\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40038,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40018\/revisions\/40038"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/39999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}