On Gardening and Motherhood...

My mom is a pretty darn good gardener. I can still see in my memories the huge hydrangea blooms that flanked the front porch at our house on Shady Grove Lane. I remember watching her lovingly choose a Dogwood tree to plant in our front yard to replace the ton of pea gravel that the previous owners had decorated with.

Pink Spring Flowers

I will always think of her as having a green thumb. Anything she plants will grow. It's been that way my whole life. I remember the first house we lived in had a small tree in the front yard that she planted. It started out as nothing but a skinny trunk and a few leaves. Fifteen years later I drove by the old house and couldn't see my old bedroom window for the tree. She knew what it would become and planted it for its potential.

Band of Leaves Bracelet

There have been over the years some plants that did not thrive like the others. And I've watched as my mother carefully dug them up, preserving the roots and planted them elsewhere. A gentle nudge in the right direction, a change of scenery, more light, more water, and they always grew.

Lavender Blossom

My mother has four daughters. I like to think of us as plants, hydrangeas or maybe roses. She's been watering some of us longer than others and some of us have not needed as much maintenance, but now I'm watching as she's taking care of one particular rose as it's going through some growing pains and I'm amazed. She's so gentle and loving and yet firm. She knows exactly what this little plant needs and she's being so patient while she tends it.

It won't be easy, the replanting, gardening, and watering, but my mom is a darn good gardener.
Anything she plants will grow. It's been that way my whole life.