Recently I put together a book of my web stories…I wanted my girls and grandchildren to have a remembrance of me. Photos are great but I wanted them to know me as a person not just a face in a photograph.
I think we all like to be remembered…for the good things we did, not the mistakes we made. I hope my girls will recall the camping trips, the lake swims with their Dad and the winter wiener roasts out at The Dunes.
And I hope the grandchildren will remember the “adventures”, when I would lead them across the street to the trees surrounding our little lake and we would scout for imprints in the mud and berries on the bushes.
One of my dearest memories is wrapped up in a measuring cup…given to me by a friend who overheard that I was looking for a plastic one. “I’ve got one. I’ll give it to you.” She said. Now every time I bake I think of her and her kindness to me.
Recently I had a few weeks of bad health and a friend knit me a prayer shawl. Such a heart-warming and body-warming gift! I think of her every time I wrap it around my shoulders.
And there are gifts of forgiveness too. I lost Mary’s postal key out in a snow bank (and couldn’t find it even with the snow gone), she just smiled and said “I made duplicates of the house and the postal keys when I moved in, so don’t fret.” She was so gracious about her gift of forgiveness.
I recently gave my daughter Lyn, her father’s watch. We share so many memories of this man who made such an imprint on our lives.
Today Spring has almost changed into summer overnight and the leaves are exploding on the trees and the heat of the sun brings out the freckles that still slip out each summer…memories of my childhood. What a gift Summer is, with garden shops bursting with a rainbow of petunias and marigolds. Like a candy counter, I have no resistance to their attraction and find myself again planting, although I vowed last year would be the end of it.
God is such a great gift-giver and He knows exactly what I like.
So, the potting soil and fertilizer are out on the deck ready to begin the task. I have already forgotten the work involved and all I can remember is God’s gift of glorious flowers and that remembrance is enough to set me in motion again to welcome in the Spring.
