Morning Glories

It's amazing how certain memories of our childhood are extremely vivid, while others are like smoke in the wind. A few of those memories just seem to pop up out of the blue from time to time.

A few years back, I was looking for something new in the garden center to plant in the yard, I came across a package of Morning Glory seeds. Immediately my mind raced back through time, to the backyard of our house where my Mom had a Morning Glory vine growing up the cloths line pole. I had to be around five or six and if you ask most young people today, they don't know what an outside clothes line is.

The flowering vine must have really made an impression on me as I remember it clearly today. I've tried several times to grow the vine in Tennessee and it either barely grew, or grew with only a flower or two. This year was the first time that it continued to bloom. Ever morning I look out the bathroom window to see how many flowers have bloomed today.

This simple flower brought floods of warmth  to my soul, as I remember those warm sunny mornings of my childhood. Those were the days where we would go outside and play. We knew all the kids in the neighborhood and we spent all day running, laughing and carefree. We spent a lot of time in the backyard as some of our best friends lived across the alley and it was like our backyards were connected. Every morning as I headed out the back door, I would see the beautiful blue blooms on the Morning Glory vine.

I was blessed to have a wonderful childhood and have so many memories of great times, birthday parties, playing in the park and those wonderful family vacations and I'm grateful for a simple blue flower that has brought back so many great memories of my youth.

The Birthday Card

Hidden in a box of old letters from my Mom, I came across a Birthday Card from my Grandparents.
We called them Nanny Maw and Daddy Paw. I could tell that it was old as both names were on the card. My Granddad passed away when I was still in Junior High.

As I saw their names written on the card in my Grandmothers hand writing, the memories flooded back from my childhood when my Grandparents were there in so many ways and a major part of my life growing up. Living in the same town, we were always there visiting as long as I can remember. They were there to babysit us so many times. So many holidays and birthdays, happy days and sad days were all spent with them.

My Grandmother and I always had a special place in each others hearts. I was the one she always counted on to help her in the yard or the house. I was the only one who she'd let trim the tree branches or paint the fence. She drove me crazy a few times as she would start us on one project, then on to another and another before any of them were finished, but that was Nanny Maw.

When my Grandfather died, I spent every night with her for about a year, helping her and being there for her. Then the time came that she was doing OK and I was getting old enough, I needed a change.

One day after I had graduated from college, I was called to jury duty and when I returned home, I had a phone message from my mom that she was really sick. I stayed to the end of the trial that day, then went to see her in the hospital. It was rough as she was so sick, to the point of hallucinating, but she had moments when she knew I was there and we could share our special love for each other. I was the last to see her before she passed.

So many memories have flooded my head and my heart with so many emotions. My Grandparents were special and their stories and struggles could fill up several chapters in a book. But for now, I have the memories and I feel blessed that I had the honor of calling them My Daddy Paw and Nanny Maw.