Lilacs

I went over to see my grandmother on Mother's Day. When I arrived, my stepmother, father, and grandmother were in the yard. My stepmom had an enormous bouquet of lilacs in her hand and the threesome was moving slowly from lilac bush to lilac bush as the bouquet slowly grew.

"Oooh! I want some too," I said as I arrived. "I love lilacs."

"I know. Don't the smell lovely?" my stepmom asked. My grandmother pointed out the different varieties in her yard and I made a mental note to get some of each.

"Do you have an old jar or something I can put these in?" my stepmom asked my grandma.

"Nope," said grandma.

"Are you sure? Just an old can or mason jar or something I can use to get these home?"

"Nope. How about a bag?"

"Or a wet paper towel wrapped in tinfoil," I suggested.

Grandma went inside and brought out a plastic bag. We sat in the sun, one of the first truly warm days of spring, and caught up on the family news.

After a bit, my stepmom and dad left. I sat with my grandma for a few more minutes and then went to cut my lilac bouquet. She went inside to find the 1958 brochure of Disneyland that she found that week cleaning out the basement. When I got inside, she handed me an empty peanut butter jar. "Here," she said. "You can use this. I only had one and I thought you would need it more." I arranged my bouquet in the peanut butter jar, enjoyed looking at the map of Disneyland from 1958 and then headed off in my car, my bouquet carefully positioned in the backseat.

I arrived smiling with my beautiful lilac bouquet at the door of Vin's house. He met me there and asked suspiciously, "What are those?"

"They are lilacs! Aren't they gorgeous?"

"What about my allergies?" he asked.

Oops. I had forgotten about the allergies. My face fell.

"Well, maybe they won't smell too strong," he said, and buried his stuffed nose in them.

Unfortunately, the smell is the thing about lilacs that I love. The way the scent is strong enough to be carried on a breeze from yard to yard, strong enough to fill an entire garden with it's scent, strong enough to drive someone with allergies absolutely insane. I left them on the porch and went in. But what to do with them?

I decided to take them to work, where other people would be able to enjoy them. I settled them into my car and drove home. I left them settled in the back seat overnight. As I was falling asleep I realized, I couldn't take them to work either. A's allergies are so strong that scented lotions worn by other women in the office give her a headache and make her sneeze. The lilacs would drive her crazy too.

In the morning, I looked at the sad bouquet that nobody wanted. Who else could I give them to? Abbie! She was just down the street and practically on my way to work. I drove over to her house, parked the car and left the lilac bouquet on her porch. It looked lovely there as I was driving away. A nice accent to the purple tulips and lavender ground cover in her front garden. I just hoped she wasn't allergic.