Unlike the loss of something socially sanctioned, losing a forbidden flower is a "disenfranchised grief"—a sorrow that feels like it has no place to go because the world never knew you held the flower in the first place. The Allure of the Forbidden
I held it like a small, dangerous promise.
and older horticulturist . The "forbidden" nature of their love is tied to her terminal illness (leukemia) and her mother's overprotective control.
