RoozenGaarde Tulip Festival, Mount Vernon Washington

Right around a year ago from today, I was getting ready to go visit the RoozenGaarde Tulip Festival up in Mount Vernon, Washington. I had read that the tulip festival feels like it was transporting you right to the tulip fields in the Netherlands. With rows and rows of color past what the eye can see. As I was getting ready though, I got an unexpected phone call from my mom. My grandpa had taken a turn for the worst and probably would not make it past the next 24 hours. Flowers quickly became the last thing on my mind as I tried to figure out how I was going to get home as quickly as possible and minimize the 2,000+ miles between my family and I.

My Grandpa was his grandchildren’s biggest supporter. With 17 of us, there was always something to discuss or someone to talk with. No matter what we were passionate about at that time, he found a way to connect with each and every one of us. He was a proud Irish man who wasn’t afraid to leave for church and come back with some homemade fudge and a stack of fifty business cards of only other Irish sounding folks. He was the best kind of man. And I just want to say Happy birthday Gramps, hope you’re playing some golf up there. We miss you everyday.

When an opportunity came for me to visit Seattle for a quick weekend, I jumped on the opportunity to go visit my old home. My friend mentioned the tulip festival and I knew it was the perfect thing to celebrate my grandpa. We ended up going the second day of the festival and I was really nervous that the flowers wouldn’t be in bloom yet, but the moment we turned down the street, rows and rows of color appeared past what our eyes could see. If you have any interest in flowers or maybe just looking for something to do in Washington the month of April, the RoozenGaarde Tulip Festival is a great place to spend half a day there. Being able to walk through the rows of tulips and daffodils, with the sun starting to peak through the clouds, I felt my grandpa walking those rows with me and couldn’t help but tear up.

Until Next Time, The Library Abroad