You know what? You just can’t make some stuff up, do you know what I mean? So please let me tell you what just happened.
Ruffus and I were out walking around the campus of the University near us. It has beautiful gardens and according to Ruffus, great smells, we go there a lot for our little walk of the day. As usual, I was pondering whether or not I could sneak a slip of one of their perennials, a pretty magenta wildflower, that happens to be called Rose Campion if you want to know. It would be perfect in my English Country Garden. Also as usual, I hear my father’s voice telling me “NEVER Steal Someone ELSE’s flowers”, so I don’t take any, I just admire them, as I do every day. Ruffus sniffs them as he does every day and on we go.
A couple of minutes later, what to my wondering eyes should I see, but a University gardener, weeding the flower beds. Almost before I know it I suck up my courage to stop and talk to her. I ask her if I could please have a piece of the perennial. She says nicely, “If you take it when no one is around and not very often. We are trying to stop that sort of thing” She then says,” In fact, we have someone who steals our flowers and we are trying to stop it.” “Oh,” I say, “who is that? ” “Well, a very, very old man, he yanks them out and we ask him not to and he says they are for his wife, and we don’t know if he understands that we have asked him not to pick the flowers, cuz he keeps doing it!”
Ruffus pulls on his leash urgently, and I say goodbye to the gardener with a big lump in my throat.
Ruffus and I scurry away, me trying not to cry and feeling slightly nauseous. I drop Ruffus back off at the house and start running back to the gardener, hoping with all my heart she is still there.
She is about to get in her truck when I call out to her ” I am the wife” I say, “My husband worked here for 33 years and he almost died last year of prostate cancer and please don’t make him stop picking me flowers, it is his way of showing love.” “OMG,” she said, he can pick all the flowers he wants”.
She started to cry and I started to cry and the gardener and I stood hugging in the courtyard and crying.
Then she took me to the flower bed and dug me up the perennial I had been wanting and that is exactly what happened! And now the perennial is in my garden.
