11th of May - Mother's Day
(An excerpts from a post originally featured on my Running blog… )….The wind blew very softly and I smelled a familiar scent that never fails to make me emotional. Ylang-ylang!
The ylang-ylang flower is my late mother's favorite flower. She loves flowers but she loves the ylang-ylang scent the most. I remember when I was young and she was sick I always pick ylang-ylang flowers from somewhere to bring home to her. My heart smiles every time I see her smile while looking and smelling the ylang-ylang. But all those times that I was bringing her ylang-ylang, she was always scolding me sweetly because she knew that it’s not easy to get those flowers.
The ylang-ylang flower bears from a tree unlike the ordinary plant-bearing flowers. It also grows in the wilderness. Back in the province I found an ylang-ylang tree in a distant farm from our neighborhood planted near the river side. Every time I have the chance I go to this place, climb the tree to pick some flowers so I can bring them home to my mother. My mother always reprimands me from doing this. She said that the place is not safe for a girl and that she does not want me climbing trees. I had a minor accident from climbing an Alatires tree which she never forgets.
The face of my sick mother smiling while smelling the ylang-ylang flower is still vivid in my memory. I was thinking while on my way back home from the run - I will never get tired of picking ylang-ylang from the wilderness as long as it brings smile to my mother.
I brought home some pieces of ylang-ylang from the park and scattered them on our family portrait’s table located near the door. When somebody enters they ask “What is that sweet smell?” In silence I answered “That is the scent of my mother”.
