Northport, Alabama

I bought this Joseph’s Coat rose two and a half years ago to stand watch over Boogie’s grave. It never bloomed, and I gave up on it. Then I looked out the window and noticed yellow buds, changing to orange, changing to red, fading to pink. Hence the name. It’s a patchwork of color, and it’s one of the more beautiful roses in existence.

It’s nice to see it blooming this year. It almost seems like a sign of approval from my still very much missed Boogie. An acknowledgment that life continues — an unbroken circle. Cowboy is now my constant companion, just as Boogie once was. And I think if there’s an afterlife, or at least a knowledge among the dead of this world, perhaps he understands how very lonely I was without him. The awful hole that was left behind and can never be filled.

Even through sorrow there is beauty; even in beauty there is sorrow. To love another living creature is to stand in silent awe, knowing that once they’re gone, life will never be the same. But it will go on.