The Assignment: Plant a Rose Bush

“Learn, so that you can teach others.” Helena recalled the last assignment from her deceased grandmother whose advice echoed and re-echoed through her mind, as she planted a rosebush beside the headstone in the country graveyard.

Suddenly, it started to drizzle.

“Even the sky is crying, but this is perfect weather for planting roses.”  

“I miss you so much!” she whispered. A tear rolled down her cheek. “How am I going to survive alone?”

“Helena, you must learn everything you possibly can, while I am still alive,” her grandmother had told her. “When I am gone, never stop learning. Please promise to do this for me.”

Helena knew the nature of her grandmother’s medical condition and made the promise immediately. She recalled her grandmother’s gentle face remembering how much she resembled her mother, who had suddenly passed away, several years earlier. Helena’s grandmother was seventeen years old when her mother was born. She had lost her life and that of an infant in premature childbirth.

“My time is short now, too,” her grandmother had said. Helena knew she spoke the truth. “Girls always have a difficult life in every part of the world. Even young ones must learn the art of survival. Remember everything I have taught you about how to survive on your own. Pass it on to other girls.”

Her grandmother’s words echoed in her mind. “A mother can only teach her daughter so much. Always seek the sisterhood of other girls, female relatives and other women from different levels of society, so that you can share what you have learned. Become sisters and you will never be alone.”

Helena carefully planted rosebushes for her own mother and deceased sibling.

“Now, there is a rosebush for each of you. I love you!”

Suddenly, she heard a sound, turned turned and spotted Monica, a classmate.

“Can you show me how to plant a rosebush, too?” asked Monica. “Our great-aunt passed away several weeks ago. I want to plant one in her memory.”

“I am so sorry,” replied Helena. “Sure, I will help you plant a rosebush. You can teach others girls. That will make us all sisters.