"Having flowers is like having babies!"

"Having flowers is like having babies!" said Granny (Ruth Hayes)

Granny.
My Grandmother.
My mom - Ruth Short's mother.
My 'make you think and smile with her many wise words' grandma.

My mom loves to garden and so did her mom. Me...not so much. Gardening is just work to me. So it was a good deal when my parents moved into a condo without a yard to take care of...my mom began digging in my yard. She has created some beautiful flower gardens over the years.

My dad is my mom's garden assistant and our dog Jewel would always be right there with them. Jewel loved being outside with my parents. She would get so excited when they came because she knew she could be outside a long time with them. My parents and Jewel became good gardening buddies over the years.

So...when Jewel passed on to dog glory a few weeks ago 

("It's a no wagging day.") my mom wanted to remember her in a special way.

A Jewel garden. 

I have a back yard garden below my kitchen windows. It is at the top of a retaining wall making it really hard to get to it and... it had turned into a jungle of weeds. Of course this is the garden she wants to plant for Jewel. Not just a plant 'a few flowers' garden...oh...no...It was going to be a bulb garden and... not just a few bulbs...200 bulbs. So if and when we ever finished this big work... we would not be able to enjoy our work until the Spring - when the the bulbs came up.

About 10 minutes into the huge weeding/bulb planting project, I made some comment about it being WAY too much work. My mom was quick to reply, "Granny always said, 'Having flowers is like having babies...they are lots of work but so worth it later!' "

Made me smile. I could so relate with my own 3 grown babies....in some ways I have enjoyed the laters and in so many other ways...I am still waiting for the laters. :-) This is the same grandma who also said 'only give a baby as much food as you want to clean up off the floor'. She was wise in such a fun way by always making the work fun with something to look forward to or to think about.

1983

Our Jewel garden took 4 hours to weed and plant. We worked hard and I can't wait for the later...to see it come to life next Spring. It will be a beautiful memory garden that I made with my mom. Not just to remember Jewel but Granny too. She passed away over 20 years ago...and her wise and fun words are still at work today.

Makes me wonder....
     What words of mine will be remembered? and...
          What work will I enjoy today because it will be worth it later?


"As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, 
    and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, 
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 
   so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, 
but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." 
Isaiah 55: 10-11