Mother's Day Corsages

Having lost two of the most important women in my life (my mother and grandmother) in the late 1990’s, Mother’s Day is one of those “holidays” I wish I could fast forward through.


As a child, I remember going to church and getting a red carnation corsage on Mother’s Day. A red corsage meant that your mother was living and a white one meant that your mother was deceased. Apparently you were to receive a yellow corsage if you had lost a child but my church never went that far.


Because my mother was living at the time, I never gave my red corsage much thought. However, many years later, on the first Mother’s Day after my mother’s suicide, I went to church and was given a white carnation. I burst into tears on the spot. How sad and embarrassing to be “singled out” that way.


I immediately went back to my first memories of the red vs. white corsages and felt sadness for all the prior recipients of white corsages.


So, now I think I’d just rather not wear a corsage at all. Or, maybe this year I’ll wear an orange one. After all, orange is my favorite color. I just don’t want that white corsage distinction. I don’t want people to wonder what happened to my mother. I don’t want the people with red corsages to feel guilty looking at my white one.


Who in the world came up with that tradition anyway? B and L – are you “listening”? Mom wants orange.