We just returned from visiting my Mammaw and my Dad this last week down in Texas. My grandma is one of the greatest inspirations for me with homemaking. She taught me how to crochet (which later inspired knitting). She taught me how to embroider, and showed me the importance of being a good hostess, friend, and mother. This morning, I snuck this photo of her that I plan to blow up and frame for my kitchen to always remind me that home truly is in the heart....
While we were there we also took a few moments to remember my grandfather who passed away on Sept. 17th. This was the first time that we were able to go down there since his passing. It was difficult to be there without him, and even more difficult to see how lonely my grandma was. Still, there were moments where I could almost feel him with us, or hear him sharing a wise tidbit with us to help us grow and learn.
He seemed to be everywhere, and nowhere all at once... While playing out with the kids in the back yard, I saw his garden, withering and neglected. The yard was his forte, and he loved to putter around, weeding, pruning, watering, and growing new plants from starters, even when he already had 30 aloe-vera plants taking over the east side of the yard. Still... a few plants managed to survive the lack of attention, and carried on the bits of life he helped them to attain.
It struck me that pieces of him were in all of these plants... his wisdom, his skill, and his tender loving care... through the grief, the denial, the neglect of these beautiful plants, they had survived and thrived, and kept on blooming out his love for all of us to silently feel around us.
In a few small pots were some cuttings that had miraculously grown into small starter plants. Mammaw saw me admiring them and asked if I would take them home and care for them. I carefully collected cuttings, starters, and seeds... the only plant I wasn't able to harvest a piece of (that I desperately wanted to) was the tomato plant that he had brought with him and kept strong for years. Over the past few months as they have been left to their own survival, most of his tomato plants have shriveled and died. Many would say to expect that in December, but they didn't know Papa. He could grow anything, anywhere, at any time (though it helps that it was about 80* even when we were there this week! Texas doesnt get much winter!). Still, I feel as though I have come away with a living piece of my grandpa that he will be pleased is continuing on.
Its not much... its just a touch of his legacy. But to me, its the world. Its his wisdom, his amazing ability to grow life in the garden, his passion, and his gentle care of these delicate plants... all of the pieces of Papa that I have cherished my entire life, and miss so desperately about him.
Its these little unnoticed pieces of our past that come through to help form and shape what it is that we cherish so much about our homes and our environments. Our ancestors and our upbringings help to form the way that we view our world, and the way that we shape the walls of our environment around us.
I am truly blessed to have such great love and joy to hold on to, and to use as a starter for the growth of love and legacy in my own home...
That picture of your grandma is absolutely beautiful. How wonderful it must have been to get to see her and your dad. How wonderful it must have been to have those pieces of your grandpa there that you were able to take home with you! It sounds like you had a much needed and wanted visit!
Posted by: Christina | December 02, 2007 at 12:45 AM
simply AMAZING pictures hun! STUNNING!
Posted by: Rachel | December 03, 2007 at 05:38 PM
What a sweet fellow he must have been.
Posted by: Felicia | December 05, 2007 at 10:29 AM