by Alice Shoaf

Created on: August 31, 2011   Last Updated: September 12, 2011

I remember when Dad planted the purple crocuses.  It’s the only time I ever saw him plant anything.  They were a gift, he said when I caught him out.  Kneeling there on the sidewalk, his stern eyes boring into mine, he swore me to secrecy, and I obeyed….

We moved into the little house on a small city lot just in time for school to start.  The farmhouse we left was falling down around our heads, but the yard was Mom’s pride and joy.  Bright yellow daffodils formed large, long ovals in the side yard, and wreathed the fruit trees that stretched back toward the woods.  A shed stood at the end of the row, hidden by fragrant lilac bushes.  Callas and lilies lined the garage, dwarfed in the front by bright yellow hyacinth bushes along the gravel drive.  The front porch was surrounded by hyacinths, too, making you feel like you were bathed in fragrant gold when summer came.  Orange tiger lilies graced the far side of the house, all the way to the back that was blanketed in climbing morning glories.  Mom loved her gardens.  She looked with dismay at the new little house, so plain and bare without a flower or bush to soften it.    

Dad was gone a lot working, and Mom and I tried to make that new house cozy.  For weeks we worked inside, fixing it up so we could all be comfortable.  Then one day I came home from school and found Mom outside.  Piles of stones and bricks surrounded her as she worked with a trowel, digging out the weedy grass by the patio door that faced the driveway.  I watched her for a minute, puzzled by the smile on her face.  Finally I said, “What are you doing?”

Mom looked up and smiled wider.  “I’m moving,” she said.

“Moving?  We just moved!”

“I know.  It’s time to make it mine.” 

I had no idea what to say and just stood there, tongue-tied, until Mom looked up again and laughed.  She got up for a moment to stretch her back, and put a gloved hand on my shoulder.  “We moved here because we had to, and none of us are very happy about it,” she said gently.  “But we’re here, and it’s ours, and it’s time to stop pining and make it home.  One thing I left behind is my gardens.  It’s time to make new ones.  So I started to carve out this garden bed, and look at what I found!”  She gestured

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