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Blog archive

November 2024

October 2024

ARBORIST WALK: NOT FOR TREE HUGGERS ONLY!
10/29/2024

Bill Wishner: Visual Hunter
10/29/2024

Can a Village Group Fix Our Healthcare System?
10/29/2024

Community Board Directors Strengthen Village Board
10/29/2024

Connecting with Village Connections: The A, B, C, & D’s of Medicare @ 65+
10/29/2024

Grief is a Journey: Two Paths Taken
10/29/2024

Message from the President
10/29/2024

Promoting Informed & Involved Voters
10/29/2024

What Will Be Your Legacy?
10/29/2024

1619, Approaching the Election...
10/27/2024

Beyond and Within the Village - A Star is Born
10/17/2024

Happiness by Priscilla Leonard
10/11/2024

Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden
10/11/2024

Unpainted Door by Louise Gluck
10/11/2024

In the Evening by Billy Collins
10/10/2024

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver
10/10/2024

Betty Kilby, A Family History
10/01/2024

Betty Kilby, A Family History
10/01/2024

Betty Kilby, A Family History
10/01/2024

September 2024

August 2024

1619 Wide Ranging Interests
08/19/2024

1619 Wide Ranging Interests
08/19/2024

First Anniversary
08/19/2024

Alexandra Leaving by Leonard Cohen
08/16/2024

Muse des Beaux Arts by W. H. Auden
08/16/2024

The God Abandons Antony by Constantinos P. Cavafy
08/16/2024

Ch – Ch – Ch –Changes
08/15/2024

Cultural Activities Team offers an ‘embarrassment of riches’
08/15/2024

Engaging in Pasadena Village
08/15/2024

Future Housing Options
08/15/2024

Message from the President
08/15/2024

There Are Authors Among Us
08/15/2024

Villagers Welcome New Members at the Tournament Park Picnic
08/15/2024

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas
08/14/2024

A narrow Fellow in the Grass by Emily Dickinson
08/13/2024

Haikus
08/13/2024

One Art by Elizabeth Bishop
08/13/2024

Poem 20 by Pablo Neruda
08/13/2024

Still I Rise by Maya Angelou
08/13/2024

Trees by Joyce Kilmer
08/13/2024

July 2024

June 2024

May 2024

Emergency Preparedness: Are You Ready?
05/28/2024

Farewell from the 2023/24 Social Work Interns
05/28/2024

Gina on the Horizon
05/28/2024

Mark Your Calendars for the Healthy Aging Research California Virtual Summit
05/28/2024

Meet Our New Development Associate
05/28/2024

Putting the Strategic Plan into Practice
05/28/2024

Washington Park: Pasadena’s Rediscovered Gem
05/28/2024

Introducing Civil Rights Discussions
05/22/2024

Rumor of Humor #2416
05/14/2024

Rumor of Humor #2417
05/14/2024

Rumor of Humor #2417
05/14/2024

Rumor of Humor #2418
05/14/2024

Springtime Visitors
05/07/2024

Freezing for a Good Cause – Credit, That Is
05/02/2024

No Discussion Meeting on May 3rd
05/02/2024

An Apparently Normal Person Author Presentation and Book-signing
05/01/2024

Flintridge Center: Pasadena Village’s Neighbor That Changes Lives
05/01/2024

Pasadena Celebrates Older Americans Month 2024
05/01/2024

The 2024 Pasadena Village Volunteer Appreciation Lunch
05/01/2024

Woman of the Year: Katy Townsend
05/01/2024

April 2024

March 2024

February 2024

January 2024

Gardenias

By Edward A. Rinderle
Posted: 08/21/2023
Tags: ed rinderle

She loved gardenias.  I discovered this bit of information early in our courtship.  Fortunately, I happened to have a gardenia shrub near the back door of my home.

Every once in a while, I would pick a particularly fragrant gardenia blossom, put it in a small bowl of water, and drive to work with it safely nestled in my cup holder.  Jean's office was in the building next to mine, so I would trot over to her office door, excited about my gift.  I knew she would love my gesture.  I was never disappointed.  

We married a few months later.  I sold my home and moved into hers.  Perhaps the biggest loss resulting from my move was the loss of the gardenia shrub.  No problem, I had thought.  We'd simply plant a new one.  

We did, but getting the new shrub to thrive proved to be a daunting task.  We tried, consulted the experts, and tried again.  Eventually, to our dismay, we had to give up.    

A few days later, on a walk around the neighborhood, we spotted a shrub covered with radiant white blossoms.  We picked up our pace and indulged ourselves in that unmistakable fragrance.  From that day on, whenever a walk took us near that home, we'd stop to enjoy those those beautiful gardenias.  

Years went by, until one day we noticed that the neighbor's gardenia shrub had begun to show some disturbing signs.  A branch would produce buds, all right, but they'd turn brown and fall to the ground before they could bloom.  Then that branch stopped producing buds at all.  Then the leaves dried out and fell, leaving only a crooked stick behind.  Soon another branch suffered the same fate.  Then another.  I know the owner was trying to save that shrub.  We saw signs of care, including feeding and pruning.  

Coincidentally, as that gardenia shrub began to fade, so did my beloved Jean.  Health issues began to descend upon her in seemingly rapid succession.  We consulted several doctors and tried several treatments, always with hope for improvement.   

But Jean's illnesses just got worse.  Before long, she could no longer enjoy our walks.  Now and then I took a walk alone, stopping at the gardenia shrub, seeking a blossom that would share its fragrance.  Even if I found one, without Jean, the experience was bittersweet.  

Then one day I discovered, much to my dismay, just empty space where the gardenia shrub once lived.   Apparently our neighbor felt he had done all he could do.

A few weeks later, my dear Jean also passed away.  I miss her terribly.  But sometime in that twilight between wakefulness and sleep, I see a small bowl of water, a gardenia floating in it, and a radiant smile looking down as a cute little nose sniffed its perfume.  

That scene fills me with gratitude for all the years I was able to spend with my dearest Jean, my heart's gardenia.  

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