I was working out on my little balcony today and came in for a cup of
coffee, I needed a break, and flipped on the newsgroup to see what was going
on. I was already a bit teary as happens on occasion while working with my
garden plants but the tears flowed while reading your post. There are times
when I really do feel my grandmother near by and this is most always when
I'm gardening. She has been gone for almost 30 years. We had our very best
talks when I gardened with her, I was very tiny when she started me digging
in the dirt with her. She came to my house when I started my own gardens and
I knew of her approval by the hand she'd lay on my shoulder when I did
something she approved of. Sometimes people don't have to use words. I truly
feel that this woman was the only person who ever taught me what
unconditional love was all about. I still talk to Gran'ma when I work in my
flowers, sometimes more than others. I know she's there because I pick up
her scent, it isn't earth or a particular plant or rain, it's Ponds Cold
Cream. She always smelled like Ponds Cold Cream and Dove soap. Funny, but
sniffing a jar of the pink stuff or a bar of Dove just isn't the same thing.
Today, just as I finished grooming the flower boxes and started on the
clematis vine I was overpowered with the aroma of Ponds and Dove and Gran'ma
and I said aloud, "It does look nice now, doesn't it Gran'ma." That's when
the tears started to well, oh how I loved that woman, and I sat for I don't
know how long till the scent was gone. It was a very peaceful feeling, not
sad, just deeply emotional. And in that state your post was the next thing I
encountered and I just sat and wept while I read it through several times.
She would have loved your garden too, Paggers, I think you also garden from
the heart.

Val