Remember, Remember

It has been said that the most important word in the scriptures is REMEMBER. For so many reasons, this is probably very true. In every part of our life, if we don't pause to remember, what's the point of doing anything?

Walking past my flower garden yesterday, I paused for a little remembering. This "Carpet Rose" has been blooming non-stop since late Spring. Whenever I stop to admire it, I think of Paulene, who taught me how to take a small cutting from her own plant, nurture it so that roots would form, and then care for it as it grew into this mature specimen. Paulene's original plant was removed to make room for other things, yet the offspring of her plant lives on at my house to the enjoyment of us both. See the vase setting there? Sweet Grace gave that to me. Sometimes a few long-stemmed flowers adorn it, but mostly it just sits there looking quietly elegant. I think of Grace every time I walk by it.

The bright yellow rudbeckias in this bed remind me of the home we spent 28 years in. These flowers grew like weeds...very cheerful weeds that I encouraged! (Some even grew in my gravel driveway.) I dug up the extras now and then and gave them away. Guess who got some? Paulene, of course. And when I moved here, she gave me some of the seedlings spread from her plant (which came from my house) and now I have them here...casting seeds willy-nilly again. I look at them and think of the all the summers past in our old neighborhood. Good memories of sunny days and young children playing in the backyard sprinkler.

I could wander through my entire garden and have a story about every flower and plant, but you would be bored. Maybe you already are. But I am finding pleasure in writing this little bit about my garden and the memories that are lingering there for me. The word remember truly is very important, because it's where we find our life story, and learning the stories of others helps us write the next chapters of our own.