Women have always been healers.In the Shire, in the fields and wood glades near Waymeet Yule and Nannie had been cultivating healing herbs and exchanging the secrets of their uses for as long as they could remember. They were midwives, traveling from home to home and village to village, learning from each other, and passing on experience from neighbor to neighbor and mother to daughter, from sister to sister. They were called “wise women” by most people. Healing was part of their heritage as women, as hobbits, it was their history, and their birthright. Spring was always a busy time for the midwives of Waymeet.
The last birth had been a very difficult one. Three days and three nights of intensive labor. More than once Yule thought she was going to lose both mother and unborn child. She had to draw all her professional and emotional skills to deal with a traumatic birth. The young mother-to-be was scared and in pain. The first child birth for a woman is a rite of passage and Yule did her best to assist, nevertheless it took three long days, no food or sleep, and much pain until finally a healthy baby boy was safely delivered in her hands.
Yule made her way home tired but satisfied she had brought an other life into the world. It was poring down with rain and by the time she reached Waymeet she was soaking wet. All she wanted was a hot cup of tea, some dinner, a long bath and sleep. It was wonderful to be back in her wagon. She looked out to see if Nannie's lantern was alight but could not see anything, Nannie was most likely also helping at a birth....it seemed to Yule all baby hobbits wanted to be born in the month of May this year.
The following day started with a glorious sunrise after a night of rain. The air was fresh and filled with the sweet smell of earth and grass. Yule got up early and sat at her desk with a hot cup of tea, looking outside the window and the early morning haze lingering above the fields. She had not forgotten what time of the year it was, she had not forgotten about the Shire Rose. Five years since she had moved to the Shire. Five years since a tiny rose seed was planted.
Yule smiled sipping her tea slowly. Now with Nannie by her side she felt almost complete. She was blessed with a loving family of hobbits. The world was changing to such an extend Yule could not quite keep up. Even the Shire sometime felt different to her, not what it used to be. She felt a shadow passing on her heart. Something was happening that would change Middle-earth forever. Her thoughts went back to the people she loved.
After all these years Amorey had not settled down, Yule was troubled by this but there was nothing she could do, the wounds on Amorey's heart were deep and never fully healed. Her cousin seemed happy enough going on her adventures so Yule would not say words to her. She knew that every hobbit must follow the path that was drawn for them to the end. Everything happen for a reason and the time it was meant to happen. As long as the hobbits of Shire Rose were happy on their journeys through life, this is all that mattered to her. Like a true flower rose, the Shire Rose hobbits could look delicate and small, yet they are a strong and hardy folk that just like roses blossomed every year in the warm spring sunshine after a long dark winter.
"Happy 5th Birthday, Shire Rose..." she whispered
