Sweet Williams

While some cities are complaining about the rain and floods, Texas would gladly pay big money to have a few thunderstorms pounce on our state. We have had record breaking temperatures these past couple of months.  The drought has been rough on our plants and wildlife.  The rivers and lakes are drying up, water lines are breaking, and people's yards have holes that go to China. Is there no end?

As the sweat poured down my back the other day, something distracted me from the 110 degree heat.  Amazingly I came across some beauitful purple flowers.  I was surprised to see them thriving in the evening heat.  Many sweet memories of my Grandma Jean flooded my mind. The flowers resembled the Sweet Williams (or Blue Phlox - the official name) that grows in KY.  It was always one of my Grandma's favorites.

Since there wasn't a lot to do in the holler, picking these and other flowers in the summertime was one of my favorite hobbies as a kid.  Many times I would put the flowers in a used jelly jar as a gift to my Mom and Grandma.  Within a day the flowers would wilt and be thrown away.  I didn't mind.   The summer days and those flowers seemed endless back then. I can still smell the sweetness of the flower.  Some grew close to the creek.  I enjoyed getting my feet wet just to pick a few.  Afterwards it was hard to walk in my squeaky flip flops so I would run home in barefeet only to have my mom scold me for getting wet.

I didn't realize the specialness of the flowers until my Grandma Jean passed away in the summer of 1985.  Her passing was one of my first hardest lessons in losing someone so close.  I couldn't imagine being that close to anyone again.  She always had a way of making me feel special and important since I was her first grandchild.  Being an only child, I thrived on any attention that she gave me.

Like a lot of evenings that summer, I sat on the hillside next to her grave which was just down the road from my house. It was easy to escape and share with my Grandma all of life's problems. Even though she was physically gone, I somehow knew her spirit lived on within me. Yet I was still alone. She couldn't converse back to me but I could imagine what she would say.

I looked out at the beautiful evening sunset feeling lost and alone as usual.  As I did, something caught my teary eyes.  There they were on the side of the hill, the beautfiul Sweet Williams flowers, growing strong within the dry leaves.   From that moment I knew it was her way of conversing back to me.  It was a reminder that she would be with me always.  I realized how life goes on even after our loved ones pass.  The flowers grow, the rain comes, the leaves fall.  All of God's creations works in perfect harmony.  Even though we can't see them, our loved ones remain in our spirit and in our memories. Those are the things that keeps them alive. It is our faith and hope that they have never left us.

Perhaps we live life as if the days and flowers will never end. We may ignore the beauty of the flowers and those around us.  We may become ungrateful towards life and those who mean the most to us.  Sometimes we don't appreciate the special moments until there are no more special moments. 

Its no secret that we are powerless over time and death.  Death is just another step that we all have to take one day.  What gives me hope and courage is that I will not be alone. While I would gladly pay money to have another moment with my Grandma Jean and my Daddy, I am grateful for the memories.  I am grateful for the moments and the people in my life today.

Make and enjoy every memory of today.