Reading "The Gift of Rain" by Tan Twan Teng brought back memories when I was a young adult. Frangipani (photo above), an exquisite flower that was a central part of the story reminded me that flower too was part of my life story. May, the month when the young and the unmarried scoured the countryside and gathered different flowers to build an altar for the Virgin Mother. Every morning her devotees and the children offered her garlands.
Frangipani tree blooms with 5-petal fragrant flowers. Frangipani on her hair or a sampaguita lei on her neck. Of course the ilang-ilang, flower of flower with the lasting fragrance and the ephemeral white gardenia ( the rosal).
And there is pure long stem and white lirio, the flower carried by the bride.
These colors and fragrance all came back so clear to me.
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