Remembering Mama

Some times memories can be such a mixed bag of emotions. Something as simple as a photo of a Colorado Blue Spruce tree can spark such memories. My mother and father were living in Virginia when he passed away in November 1979. For a while after his death my mother was so unsettled. She couldn't even seem to be able to make a decision as simple as where she wanted to live.

 For a while following Dad's death she moved to Ohio and lived with my sister. While there, she found one of those 'too good to pass up' deals in a seed catalog for Colorado Blue Spruce trees. I don't recall now how many seedlings of this beautiful tree she ordered, but I do know she got a lot of them for a minimal price. That spring following my dad's death, she and my nephew, Brett planted every last one of those seedlings on approximately 15 acres of my sister's property. For a little while my mother became the Johnny Appleseed of Colorado Blue Spruce trees.

 

Like I said, Mom had a difficult time making decisions for a while. Eventually, she went back to Virginia where she stayed with my brother Joey until wonder lust struck her once more. In the winter of 1984 she moved to Ohio for the final time to live with my family. We bought a house in the country with 1 acre of land and a little cottage separate from the main house. This was perfect for her because it not only allowed her to live close to one of her children, but also gave her the independence she needed by having her own little home. It must have been right for her because she lived there for the following 14 years.

One day she went to visit with my sister and came home with two of those Colorado Blue Spruce trees in the back of her car. Her car had a hatch back and it was jam packed full with those two trees and there was still quite a bit more sticking out of the back. By this time it had been about 7 or 8 years since they had been planted as little saplings. They were no longer little saplings, but now full fledged trees. She had already envisioned where they should be planted and we went to work digging the holes and getting them planted there. In the front left corner of the property we planted her trees and they were beautiful standing there. She could sit at her kitchen table, sipping her morning coffee and look out  of the window at two of the trees that she and God had worked together to grow. 

It was just before Christmas in 1996 that she thought it would be nice to decorate these two trees with lights. I bought enough lights to display a cheerful twinkle and we went to work wrapping those trees in them . Oh my, but they were beautiful. It was about a week before Christmas day that year when my little Mother came stomping into my kitchen madder than a wet hen. She grabbed my hand and dragged me out the door to show me what she had discovered when she was sitting at her kitchen table that morning sipping her coffee.

 Some time during the night someone had stopped on the road, unplugged the lights to the fullest of the two trees, sawed it down and drove off with it, lights and all. I really think that what upset her the most wasn't so much that the tree was gone, but the fact that it was stolen. In fact as she mourned the loss of her tree that she had nurtured from a sapling, she mentioned on several occasions that if someone needed a tree so bad, all they needed to do was ask and she would have given it to them. I have no doubt in my mind that she would have done just that. It was the kind of person she was.

I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your visits through  out the year and your wonderful comments along the way. This week I have appointments for medical tests as well as some baking and cleaning to do for the coming week.  Keeping this in mind I probably won't be posting again until the New Year. J.D. and I want to be sure to wish our old and new friends a very Merry Christmas and a healthy Happy New Year.

 

May God's love and blessings rain down on you and yours this Christmas Season....