Image by Darkmoon_Art from Pixabay
A climbing rose bush is not generally what you plant when you are renting, and neither Capt. R.E. Ludlow or Sgt. Vincent Trent meant to be renting for a long time.
However, having come to ground in emergency housing for large families in the Veteran's Lodge in Lofton County, VA, and being informed that they would be allowed to stay through the duration of the pandemic, both heads of households decided they would settle in for real, make improvements to the aging properties as they could, and enjoy life.
Among these things were each independently picking up some climbing rose bushes early in their stay, so that the summer-blooming cultivars would do their first blooms that very summer.
Both heads of households surprised each other with the same thought, the sergeant watching his younger daughters Velma (11) and Gracie (8) comparing themselves with the climbing rose's new growth and height, and the captain's granddaughters Eleanor (11), Edwina (8), and Amanda (7) doing the same thing, and then all of the girls just being delighted by the fragrant little pink blooms in the summer and carefully pinning them into each other's hair so they could enjoy the odor all day.
“Just gotta avoid all these thorns and stuff,” Amanda Ludlow said to her friend Gracie Trent.
“Ain't it the truth,” Gracie said, and cracked her father up because that was what his mother Gladys was always saying.
“That's part of life with climbing roses,” Sgt. Trent said gently, and Capt. Ludlow, who was also watching this sweet interaction, added, “Yes, with all our little but swiftly climbing roses.”
Sgt. Trent laughed.
“Ain't it the truth, Captain,” he said, and the captain laughed.