Spring Flowers and Remembering Moms...

    As my French lilacs began to bloom I took heart at the fact that they were blooming just in time for Mother's Day.  Both my mother and grandmother have been gone for many decades, but the memory of them is as fresh as if they were still here with me.  The heavy perfume of lilacs wafted through my open windows causing me to travel back in my mind to the fun times with both those truly amazing ladies. 
     Grandma was the gardener, so I certainly come by my green thumb honestly.  My dear mother could not grow anything to save her soul.  Every Mother's Day my father saw to it that I was able to buy a basket of pansies for my gift to Polly.  Mom always like the cheery little faces on those sweet blossoms.  She always made sure I was the one to plant them for her, knowing that her touch would be the kiss of death to anything green and living.  The joy of having little bouquets of pansies in jelly jar vases was the gift she could deal with in the spring and early summer.  Even now I love getting the first pansies of the season.  Their sweet faces make me remember Polly.
     The glorious permeating perfume of lilacs always reminds me f the huge old-fashioned lilacs that grew around my great grand-mother's home.  Jesse, my grandmother, grew up in that home.  She always made sure that we grand kids made frequent trips to Great Grandma's house for a visit.  I was seven years old when Annie passed away, but I have very clear memories of her and the very special garden treasures that flourished at her home.  She was the herbalist in the family.  She made herbal and fruit wines for medicines, and created her own floral waters for bath and beauty needs.  Her closets and line drawers all smelled of lavender and lilac.  Jesse carried the same practices to her own home, but I always noticed more orange and spice aromas in her closets and dresser drawers.  Grandma could make anything.  She taught me how to guild furniture and how to upholster furniture.  The tomatoes from her garden were like no other.  We used to sit in the garden with the hose and eat tomatoes like apples.  Good times!
     Grandma's sisters were the kind of moms who looked out for everyone.  They were all great cooks, they gardened and canned foods, they sewed and quilted, they did it all.  From the bounty of their handy work they saw to it that everyone they knew was provided for. 
     My mother was creative with more of a crafter's hand.  Long before silk flowers were commercially made, my mother made silk flowers and wood-fiber flowers.  Polly was the one who went to college where she studied secretarial science as it was called back then.  When I was almost ready for Kindergarten I can remember my mother working for the Sun Rubber toy company in Barberton, Ohio.  One of her early duties was that of having to clean out the desk of one of the company's inventor/designers who had suddenly passed away.  While going through his desk, Polly discovered designs for what is now recognized as the huge hot-air balloons that are in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  Polly put the designs together in a  notebook form and handed them over to the company.  She recognized the potential of what she had found.  Since the designs belonged to the company, they were patented and sold to create what would become a very important part of that parade tradition.  I can still remember the rubber baby dolls I got for Christmas that came from Sun Rubber's collection.  Mom's discover of the balloon designs helped the toy manufacturer stay afloat a bit longer. 
     And so, as Mother's Day approached, I cut a bouquet of French lilacs to take to the cemetery.  I miss all those wonderfully creative ladies in my family, those caring, nurturing ladies who helped to mold me as an artist and a writer.  Thanks for the legacy, ladies.  A happy Mother's Day as I remember the moms who had an amazing effect on my life.  I wish the same to all the rest of you moms who read my remembrances.  My family proved to me that every day is Mother's Day.  The lilacs are in full bloom for all of you...