Five Photos, Five Stories Challenge – Day Three: Roses

My family and I were recently walking through the extensive parks around the Branicki Palace, and I happened upon these beautiful roses. I just knew I had to include them as part of this challenge.

Roses remind me of so many life events. They seem familiar for some reason. They remind me of my grandmother, who has beautiful roses in her garden, and the roses in front of the house I grew up in in Chicago. I remember a photo of me when I was probably 5 or 6 standing among red roses in the town my father grew up in.

Roses also remind me of all the beautiful gardens I have visited in my life. They remind me of the last time I was in Krakow and went to the Botanical Gardens of the Jagiellonian University. We took a lunch break in the rose garden where a dancer performed for a photo shoot – a private performance, it seemed.

Despite their beauty and elegance, roses make me melancholic. Memories are often tinged with a bit of sadness, at least for me. Roses make me long for a daughter I don’t know if I’ll ever have. They also make me think of an innocence that has been lost.

 

I was nominated to take part in this photo challenge by Geoff Le Pard, who tells the most interesting stories and takes us on wonderful walks, as well as the talented and amazing Sacha Black. I nominate Dr Gulara Vincent to take up this challenge. Somehow roses made me think of her.

The rules of the Five Photos, Five Stories Challenge are:

1) Post a photo each day for five consecutive days.
2) Attach a story to the photo. It can be fiction, non-fiction, poetry, or a short paragraph. It’s entirely up to the individual.
3) Nominate another blogger to carry on the challenge. Your nominee is free to accept or decline the invitation. This is fun, not a command performance!