I find that I enjoy remembering my Grandma’s life much more on her birthday than on the day she died. She was such a vivacious woman, it seems much more fitting to her personality to remember her on the anniversary of the day when everything lay ahead of her rather than on the day when her life ended. Today is her second birthday since she died. She would have been 77.
This is my grandma. She was so beautiful–and dare I say it–sexy. It’s funny, because I feel as if I know her on a deeper level now that she’s gone than I did just two years ago, when she was so full of life. I don’t know if that’s because I am older and wiser now, and can see her through a more mature lens. Or maybe its just that I’ve hyper focused on her these past 17 months since she died.
I think about her whenever I’m gardening. I wonder what she would think of my container gardening business. What she would make of my blog and eBook (if I ever finish it!). I ache to tell her about the iris I’m growing, and how I laugh whenever I see people planting “spikey” plants, like cordyline, that I know she hated. I wish she could see how her own garden is progressing. She finished a complete redesign of her front and back yards just a few months before she was diagnosed with cancer.
I find myself collecting plants that I know she would have liked, or that otherwise remind me of her. I grow burro’s tail because it was one of the first cuttings she gave me, nearly 20 years ago. I can’t believe I am old enough to have 20 year old memories, but pleased at the same time that my dusty memories are of hand-me-down greenery from my Grandma.
In Judaism, it’s common to say about the deceased, “May their memory be for a blessing.” Grandma, your memory is such a blessing to me!
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A lovely tribute to a lovely woman
That’s very touching. I have not lost a grandparent yet, but last week I lost a good friend– the pastor who married my husband and me. He was 85, and an amazing man. Your post brought tears to my eyes. Your grandmother sounds like a wonderful woman who left you a beautiful legacy. I’m sure she’s proud of you right now.
I hope I can leave memories like this for my family someday. This was beautiful, Fern. I’m glad your Grandma got to know you as a grownup, even if she hasn’t gotten to see everything you’ve done with the legacy of plant love she left you.
You look like your Grandma, Fern. I agree with the others — a beautiful tribute to a woman who has inspired such a generous and passionate legacy.
What a lovely tribute to your grandma. Another blessing of gardening — how it connects us across generations. Yesterday I was brushing against the leaves of the tomato plants & their scent evoked memories of my own granny (now passed) — I had a very vivid mental image of her just-picked garden tomatoes on a shelf near the back door.
As a always, your words are beautiful.
What a moving tribute (and glamorous picture). : )
Fern,
Last night I had a very vivid dream of Grandma, but in my dream she was alive. I was perplexed by the meaning of this dream and why I had dreamt it now. Maybe the meaning is that she is still alive in our remembering of her. Although I’ve never thought you looked so much looked like her, even though you are both beautiful women, it is certainly possible that you have inherited her creative, artistic talents, as well as her green thumb! Thank you for a beautiful tribute to the woman we both loved so much. Mom
I think that is a wonderful way to remember your grand-mother. Grandmothers and mothers: The prime of their lives is so much more who they were, than those waning years when they become tired of many things. Thank you for reminding me.