Mother's Day Corsage

Every Mother's Day since my daughter has been old enough to walk and talk, her grandfather has come over the day before Mother's Day when no one is home and hidden a corsage in the back of the fridge. On Mother's Day morning she then presents to me a corsage "from her." It's a really sweet gesture that continues to this day. She knows it's there and peeks at it hidden behind jelly jars and milk cartons, and I pretend that it's not there and act surprised (she and I laugh as every year acting clueless never seems to get old). I wear the corsage every year like a proud badge . . . to church in the morning, to a big Mother's Day brunch afterwards, and then it takes a place of honor on my bedroom dresser until its brown petals and crisp baby's breath wind up a memory.

So this year I came up with an idea (not to replace Poppy's corsage, mind you, but merely as an idea to test drive for other moms) of doing a silk flower corsage that includes a picture frame (or several if a mom has more children) and could stay a keepsake. My version also includes a "With Love" ribbon and a butterfly. I think at the beginning of each New Year I might find some picks with the year on them and could include those so a mom remembers from what year the corsage came. And, of course, the picture frame could date the corsage as well, with the year reflected in the age of the child. I love live flowers just as much as the next mom, but nothing can beat looking at keepsakes and momentos that remind me of why I love being a mom.