Mary's Heartbeats

  It has been breathtaking to hike the foothills and mountains this Spring.  The trails are lined with such a variety of flowers and growth. I am amazed that even with the small amount of rain we got this year, the plants have burst forth in the most brilliant color and array.  They seem to grow so effortlessly, as they are visible among rocks and crevices.  I try to provide the best conditions for flowers in my garden, and they don't seem to thrive as well as the ones in the harsher conditions.  I wonder why that is? The colors are always what draws me to the plants.  It seems as if the yellow blossoms are the first to bloom, and then comes the pinks, the blues, the oranges, and then my favorite ones, the purples.   Some also have a subtle sweet fragrance that overwhelms you as you walk through paths that are lined with them.  I always have felt that aroma from flowers is an extra gift from God.  Not only are you amazed by the beauty of the ...

Today is Mom's birthday.  If she were here,  we would be celebrating her 109th day of life.  I can't believe that it has already been 20 years since she said goodbye to earthly living.   I was much too young back then, at the age of 45, to lose my Mom.  You always long for at least one more conversation to ask the questions you didn't get a chance to do.  You often wished you would have had more talks, especially as you find yourself on a different side of life, other wise known as the senior years. As parents we always desire to keep our family ties together and close, but it doesn't always work out that way.  When our  parents were still living, and as they grew more elderly, they of course were the bond that brought my brothers and myself together.  As adult children, we each had a unique relationship to them, but I am realizing now, that we didn't necessarily have a tie with one another.  We were children of the nuclear family, ...