I love the spring – the lilacs are starting to bloom, and as I walk into my home, the smell is spectacular. When we first bought our home it was newly built so we had to “landscape” the yard. I bought three big lilac bushes/trees. I planted two in my back yard and one at the front door. It was one of my mom’s favorite flowers when she was a little girl her grandma had lilac bushes, and it brought good memories.
I love lilacs, especially the fragrance – but my main purpose was to be able to pick bouquets of lilacs to take to my mom when I visited her. I lived about 30 miles away from her, the place I was raised; I would go every weekend. Since my mom was paraplegic, she couldn’t come out unless I picked her up or someone in my family brought her over. It is really amazing how connected we were. I think my mom being handicapped (I hate using that word; she certainly didn’t think like that) taught us a sense of compassion for others, since she did have special needs, my life was totally intertwined with hers. Everything I did I figure out how we could accommodate mom so that she could be part of the experience. She was my best friend –it has only been a few years since she has been gone – I miss her now more than ever…