1 of 298

Write now Article Tools

My Mother created a beautiful garden at our small house on a postage stamp lot in the suburbs every year. She had a garden filled with many different flowers in the backyard. I still remember seeing those pretty red, pink and yellow roses, and white and purple colored snapdragons. She had a fragrant lilac bush right near the gate. When we had the back windows or the back door open in the springtime the scent of lilacs would soon fill the house.

My Mother watered her plants almost every day. She showed me how to water them at the base of the plants, so the roots would get their necessary life nutrient. She always took time out of her busy day of errand running, and child rearing to show me how to care for the flowers and the bushes in the front yard as well as the flowers in the backyard.

She even showed me how snapdragons got their name. She told me when I was a child, to pinch one right at the base of the flower, and they would open up. When you let go, it would snap shut. She often would let me water her garden and I loved to do it. That's because I would water the back of the house and the pavement and chase bugs away. I would even toss the hose around creating loops out of the water.

One day when I came home from school, I found out that I was locked out of the house. My Mom had gone errand running, and my older sister wasn't home yet. My Mother had told me many times if she wasn't home yet to just go to a neighbor's house because back in the 1970's we knew every neighbor. I decided not to, and walked to the garage instead, which was open just enough to slide under. This way I could go through the glass doors and sit on the backyard patio and wait for someone to get home. As soon as I slid under the garage door, I heard the meowing of a cat and into my life walked my best friend.

I found a stray cat trying to eat the garbage out of the trash can. She was very skinny, and had a broken tail. When we asked if we could keep her, our parents both gave a resounding, "No." We all were feeding her, though. My Dad was bringing home scraps of meat from our Grandfather's meat market several times a week.

She soon became part of the family. She was an outdoor cat, and she would make a sunny spot for herself in my Mother's garden, where she would sleep amongst the flowers, during the day. Even though we kids made sure she had a nice secure spot in her new bed in my sister's room, she would meow to go outside and sometimes stay out all night.

My Mom took our new family member

• 1
• 2
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about My true garden story?
We want to hear your view. Write now!