A Small Tribute to Rose

Delighted to find a lovely pot plant today, at a garage sale. Hopefully it will live, & even flourish!
For some reason, I was reminded of Rose who came into my life-of-the-time in the Country Hotel. Rose was a little whitehaired woman who had a bedriddden husband, a live-in-lover, a boyfriend who was her dancing partner, & a fabulous generous wonderful spirit. She had an extraordinary capacity for gin, but it never seemed to stop her from being a tireless worker, with almost limitless good cheer. Rose was introduced to me as a 'useful extra hand about the hotel, if you need one.' I think if I hadnt had Rose to help me out, I would have gone insane or just simply left! Rose was a small neat woman, in her 60's, & she always wore makeup, & high heels, & lovely clothes, no matter if she was waiting tables for me, washing dishes or helping me scrub the godforsaken grease pit that my kitchen used to be every Sunday morning. I think I wept every Sunday we had the place! We had a nice old fashioned style of dining room, & every Saturday evening a 'cook' -who was a 'real' Chef, moonlighting from a large city Hotel- would come & do bistro style meals. The horror of the kicthen on Sundays was a nightmare. The Chef was very popular with the locals, so we kept him employed. He liked to do special treat dishes for the locals in the duck season, & would cook their bags quite happily for afterhours eating. Rose would offer to come & help me, offer a warm hug & a sympathetic ear, & always helped me cope with things. If we had guests & I had to be away, she would come & feed them -never failing to provide wonderful meals. As it was a country village, I also cooked for our staff, as well as any guests we had, & it was wonderful to have Rose to rely on. She still managed to remain on deck no matter how many gins she may have consumed!
Rose 'did' my flowers for me in the Dining room, & if the florists didnt have anything suitable, she would bring sheaves of flowers from her wonderful garden, & use those. Her husband died, & she got rid of the live-in, but she kept the dance partner, who was a very nice man. Rose was a true blessing in my life, & possibly a lifesaver. Rose never missed a chance to flirt with a man, & perhaps that is what kept her 'forever young'! Where ever you are now, Rose, I hope you are happy!