A Yard of Flowers in OKC

When I was growing up, my Grandma Dorothy and my Poppy Abe were quite the gardeners. They always had a huge garden, filled with all sorts of vegetables, strawberries, and, my favorite, a huge variety of flowers, including the flower I most closely associate with my grandma, the Bachelor Button.

Bachelor Buttons are fun little flowers that are simple and cute. They grow tall and typically are a blue, purple, white, and pink, or any combination thereof. When we were kids, they grew by the ton at Grandma and Poppy's -- and we were allowed to pick and play with them, making things like homemade leis. While I love them, they're not a flower that you see often in floral arrangements; in fact, I just don't see them often at all any more.

A little more than a week ago, I was at my friend Tracy's house in the Paseo Arts District. We were walking down her block, heading to a meeting, when I saw a yard full of Bachelor Buttons. The instinct to pick one was nearly overwhelming, but I stopped myself and just spent a few seconds looking at them and fondly remembering Grandma Dorothy.

Fast forward to last Saturday and, after an incredibly long and hot day, we were again walking past that same yard. As I looked at the Bachelor Buttons again, there, dead in the middle of the yard full of them, was a single bright red Poppy. A Poppy growing among the Bachelor Buttons? You couldn't find a better reminder of my grandparents if you tried for six years.

It's been six months since my Poppy passed away and, to be brutally honest, I'm still not dealing as well as I could with my grief over losing him. Every time I start to cry, I stop myself -- and I know that I haven't truly mourned properly. Somehow, though, seeing that single red Poppy growing amidst the yard of Bachelor Buttons, made me feel a lot better. I still miss him and know that I'll always have a void in my life, but what an amazingly awesome reminder of two fabulous people.