A Rose

                                  A rose.

Each year,  in the cold winter months, a rose bush may appear dead and sad, but it still lives through the cold. As soon as the warm spring and summer months come, one can see the rose bush in full bloom.  Its vibrant color and strong fragrance are the complete opposite of what it was in winter. My life is like that rose. I have gone through my cold winter months, but everytime I come out in full bloom. My winter months came at an early age. Being born into a single parent home with a father that came in and out of my life was hard. By the time I was seven I had three younger siblings and a mom who really wasn’t there to support us like she was supposed to be. The winter only got colder and the snow only fell harder. After being put into foster care my siblings and I were split up I wasn’t sure when or if  I’d see them again. A year of foster care made it seem like my winter would never end.

One of the most fascinating things about roses is that they can root again once they have been cut from their bushes. If someone receives a bouquet of roses they can be rooted in nothing but a cup of water. Everything on the rose will die except for the stem. From the stem alone one can grow a whole new rose bush. Roses can quickly adapt to  change so they can continue to develop. One of my greatest strengths is to be able to continue to grow even after different parts of me have died. I have continued to thrive even as I have left behind a life that was not safe for me. That life was with my biological mother,  a life that I was rescued from by Social Services. It was hard at first, not being able to see or be with my mom but in time I came to realize that being away from her really was the best for me. That’s the part of me  that died, the connection to my biological mother that I had to let go of. Now that I have let go I have grown and rooted somewhere else somewhere that is better for me and healthier to my well being.  I have a stable healthy family that sticks together through thick and thin. I no longer worry about people leaving me or having to be seperated from my siblings. I am in a more stable place in my life, I feel that my winter storm has come to an end and I can finally enjoy the warm summer months.   

A rose can withstand some of the worst winter storms and still blossom in the spring. This is a message that I would like to carry with me so I can help people realize that they too can go through the worst winters in their lives and still come out in full bloom. The cold comes but only for a while, the cold and the warmth are both temporary but the impact and the change that those moments  leave on us is permanent. It’s up to us how we choose to deal with those moments. We can choose to blame all of our shortcomings on our past and act like we can’t do anything about it, or we can choose to take those cold moments, hold on for some warmth,  and blossom.

Simplicity, humbleness, and being down to earth is something that I have been able to gain as I have worked my way around life’s obstacles. I don’t feel the necessity to act as if life has treated me the worst out of everyone else in the world. A rose is something simple even though it’s  always given for special reasons. A simple gift with the greatest of thought and care. I feel that even though I have been through alot in my life I don’t boast about it. I try not to let my past define me. I have learned from the chill of my winters, and I know I can’t change them but I continue to grow, always ready to start a new bloom, just like a rose.