The Sweet Scent of Lavender

I won a basket of lavender goodies on a local raffle It bought a smile to my face And bought back many memories Of a lovely lady I once knew Her husband was a retired GP She had Parkinson’s Disease you see She couldn’t be left on her own He would get on the phone and I would run She was 83 years old and as bright as a button I would ‘granny sit’ for her to keep her from harm Her favourite scent was lavender, and I would always hear her say Can you get the lavender water for my hands today? I would gently rub the water onto her gnarled hands She would smell the sweet scent and smile And tell me stories of her life Of happy times and tragedy, the hours spent would fly by I would hear the same stories time after time Her mind would wander, but I didn’t mind I could smile and laugh at the appropriate place She would shed a tear and I would wipe them from her face The tragedy in her life was her daughter Rosamund Yvonne She was born with Down’s Syndrome – even now I can still see her smiling face Her photo took pride of place on the grand piano We would look at that faded picture and the old lady would smile Her daughter passed away at five years old But still the stories I was told every day If I smell lavender now it brings back many a memory Of that lovely old lady and Rosamund Yvonne