Flowers for Rebecca

Flowers for Rebecca

     Tony drove himself to buy flowers for his wife for their 70^th wedding anniversary.  This was not his normal shopping day and had to recruit the lady next door to sit with his wife while he went out to buy the flowers. Although he held a valid driver’s license, he probably should not have been behind the wheel. At age ninety-one his eyesight was not the best and his reflexes were slower than one needs to safely drive a car. Thankfully the old Buick Regal was in very good condition and safe for most people to drive. Tony normally drove it to the local grocery store once per week. He usually put on less than five miles per month because the store was just a half mile from the assisted living facility where he and his wife Rebecca lived for the past 15 years.  He would get more middle fingers from other drivers for his near misses than he would rack up miles. The grocery store also had a self-service gas station where he could top off the tank every couple months.  The Buick was kept out of the elements in the garage under their apartment building and every evening right after dinner he would take the elevator to the parking level and start it up. After letting run for a couple of minutes, he would turn it off and return to his apartment. 

     Rebecca loved to get flowers from Tony. He always bought them for her on her birthday, Valentines Day, Christmas and always for their anniversary. She was especially fond of one particular species. Tony could never remember the name of those flowers but recognized them when he saw them displayed in the grocery store. The petals were shaped like that of a lily, and they came in several different colors with contrasting specks of color on each of the petals. Rebecca loves the ones with purple petals and yellow specks. Tony would mix in stems with white petals with purple of blue specks to enhance the arrangement.

     When they were younger, he would bring her roses and would nearly always lead to a romantic evening which included sex. Those days were over however, that ended about thirty-five years earlier when Rebecca’s health became an issue, forbidding her to engage in that aspect of romance. That didn’t stop Tony from bringing her flowers on special occasions. The choice of roses also changed to the new species that would last twice as long as roses. 

     The couple sold their house and moved into the assisted living facility when Rebecca was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s decease. Her memory and mental capacity diminished over time to until she could not be left alone. Thankfully the lady next door could be counted on to sit with her when Tony went shopping. At age ninety, Rebecca was always confused, causing her to be unhappy and fearful of other people. Most times she would not even recognize Tony. The one thing that would make her smile was when Tony brought her flowers. When that happened, something in her memory would be triggered to recognize Tony, if only temporarily. She would beckon him to hug and kiss her and then sit for hours looking at the arrangement that Tony had placed in a vase, a wedding gift seventy years earlier. 

     Tony had a very successful career as a family practice physician and Rebecca was a stay at home mother raising four children. The two boys became doctors like their father and were retired from practicing medicine. The youngest girl became an attorney and was still practicing part time in her name’s sake law firm. The other girl was a retired teacher. All of the children lived in different parts of the country, many miles from Tony and Rebecca. 

     To anyone other than Tony, Rebecca was a withered old woman with a grumpy appearance. Not so with Tony. He still viewed her as that beautiful blond with hazel eyes and figure that would make the most cinematic sex symbol envious. He still remembers the day they met at a party hosted by his sister.  Rebecca was so gorgeous; he could hardly speak when they were introduced. She must have felt the same about Tony as they spent the entire party with each other just talking. By the end of the evening, she agreed to go on a date with him and they were married eighteen months later.

     When Tony entered the apartment with the flowers in hand, he expected to bring a smile to Rebecca’s face. Instead, the neighbor lady intercepted Tony and told him that she thought that Rebecca had suffered something that caused her to slump, unconscious in her recliner. She told him that she had called 911 so the EMTs should be there within a few minutes. Tony thought that she had just fallen asleep and went to wake her and show her the flowers. When there was no response, he felt for a pulse. There was none. Tony immediately tried to revive her but remembered that she had specifically requested in her medical directive that no attempt should be made to extend her life in any manner. Tony’s beautiful blond wife with the hazel eyes had passed. When the EMTs arrived, they confirmed what Tony already knew. The medical examiner determined that she had died of heart failure. Having a diseased heart from the time she was in her sixties; it was amazing that she didn’t succumb to a failed heart years ago. 

     It was up to Tony to call each of the children and inform them of their mother’s passing. They all promised to be there the next day or as soon as travel could be arranged. The youngest lived the closest and said that she would drive through the night and be there in the morning. 

     The flowers that Tony had painstakingly picked out for his bride never made it to the vase. He had placed them on the counter and by the time his daughter arrived they were already wilted beyond saving. Not wanting her father to notice the youngest saved a couple of the least withered blossoms then tossed the rest. Later that day she located Tony and Rebecca’s wedding album and pressed the flowers next to Rebecca’s favorite picture of her and Tony cutting the wedding cake.

     Tony continued to buy Rebecca’s favorite flowers and place them on her grave for her birthday, Valentines’ Day, Christmas and especially on their wedding anniversary until he joined her with his passing.