Miss All American Beauty Rose For A Day Daddy

Once upon a time there was a rose garden in the far, north. It was located one mile from the beautiful north shore of Lake Michigan off of Beach Road along a little dead-end street.  My mother planted 30 or so roses and hedged the roses with peonies and a purple clematis along a little white fence. The rose on the corner of the garden was Mr. Lincoln, a majestic red rose.

The sidewalk paralleled the garden. As daddy sauntered by the rose garden he would stop and look at the red blooms of Mr. Lincoln and and say “Dorth isn’t that Miss All American Beauty?” To which my mother would smile and say, “No Jim, that’s not Miss All American Beauty.” I never really knew why she called him Jim, his name was Raymond. Maybe because his middle name was James. The fact is every time my dad saw a red rose he would say the exact same thing. “Dorth, isn’t that Miss All American Beauty?” To which my mother would still smile and say, “No Jim that’s not Miss All American Beauty.” Introduced in 1965 its still around today. I’m going to plant a Miss All American Beauty for my father. Daddy, today we will call all red, reddish and deep-pink roses Miss All American Beauty. Can you imagine the fun we would have with all the red roses I have planted in my garden if Daddy could see them today? Happy Father’s Day Daddy.*

*My father died from colon cancer when he was only 56. It was undetected because he did not believe in talking about personal issues with his physician. Please get a colonoscopy when your doctor feels its the right time for you to have the test.