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We inherit more than the obvious physical characteristics from family members, who come before us. The adage "fruit doesn't fall far from the tree" serves as the perfect metaphor for familial relationships. The members of our families have an enormous impact on what we become, and the ways in which we define ourselves. There are books, screenplays, short stories, poems, songs, paintings, etc which follow the theme of family dynamics. In fact, the most popular television dramas are the ones that examine family interaction.

My parent's decision to personally involve our grandparents in our lives, made a huge impact upon our character. Perhaps it was the fact that my parents married young, and needed parental guidance to help them, however I am inclined to believe, it was because of the kind of people my grandparents happen to be.

My mother and fathers parents had their own unique qualities and traits.We had the "fun" or more relaxed set, and then the more up tight, "you're gonna play by the rules set", it is funny I remember them this way. My siblings and I share fond and funny memories of both sets of grandparents. Both our grandfathers and grandmothers had strong individual personalities.

My maternal grandmother's quotes remain in our family, and are repeated often. Even, words she said when she was angry, like, "DAT Burn it!", and other quotes, "A stitch in time saves nine." and so forth. She had a garden in a huge beautiful yard, which she dearly loved, and put all three of her grandchildren to work in every chance she got. It seems it was important to "Nana," that her grandchildren were enlightened to the basics of gardening. She loved her yard, in fact our entire family loved her yard, although, gardening was hard work! This being the case, she would offer us money, just for the opportunity to teach us her passion. We thought we were actually of use to her, and it is touching to think she put up with the arguments, and temper tantrums, involved in dealing with young children, if only to teach us something about the world.

That garden!

One of those times, when I was seriously gardening, (I was singing to myself and playing with the rake.)Nana ran across a baby rabbit in the garden.

The soil, recently tilled, had disturbed a nearby rabbit hole. Evidently, a baby rabbit ran out of his home, and the tractor ran him over. The little rabbit was in bad shape. Nana yelled across the rows of vegetables, "Honey, will you come help me with this?"

The recollection of that

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