Grandmas Peonies
When I was a small child, my Grandma C would babysit us while Mom ran errands in town. We loved it, Grandma loved it, and I think especiall Mom loved it. When all the running was finished, Mom came back and she and Grandma talked and shared a drink: iced tea for Mom, black coffee for Grandma. And the three of us kids acted like Perry Street was our own personal Fairy Land full of Dragons to slay and Fair Maidens, Knights in Shining Armor, and all the beautiful flowers you could ever wish to see.
Grandma C was wheelchair bound for the last 10 years of her life, but she had some amazing flowers. Her husband, my step-Grandpa did as she asked him to keep her beautiful buds in great condition. Even if he wasn’t very nice to my Mom and Uncle Charlie, he was still pretty good to Grandma, after he stopped drinking all the time.
I can remember like it was yesterday, standing on the sidewalk and asking Grandma why there were ants all over the peony bud. Before she could answer me, I brushed them all off and squished them with my navy Hush Puppies. Grandma called me over to her and pulled me close. She wheeled closer to the peonies while holding me around the middle and said that God works miracles all the time… and that there are plenty of things that we don’t know why they are… they just ARE.
Grandma told me that the ants are a friend to the peonies. They crawl all over the bud and somehow, the bud opens. It’s the way God made things and isn’t it amazing?
My Grandma wasn’t a Christian. Not that I know of, anyway. She passed on when Dotty and I were 10, and our brother James was 12. We spent a lot of time with her… more than anyone else besides Mom and Dad. She was certainly our second mom. But Mom didn’t work outside the home when we were small, so we always saw Grandma as a family. She wasn’t a righteous woman. Mom was born when Grandma had just turned 16 and Grandma married and divorce my Grandpa between then and when my mom was 2 years old. She had a rough life.
But still she taught James, Dotty and me about God. And God’s amazing creation. I treasure that always.
June 8, 2007 at 11:10 pm
Great flower pic. Is it one of your own?
June 10, 2007 at 8:25 am
The pictures pull me right in with your memory of you and your grandma. Such a stunning life lesson - she knew that God was the Designer.
This my first visit - I’ll be back. Tammy
June 10, 2007 at 1:43 pm
I don’t remember any dragons or faeries… but I certainly remember killing the ants, and Grandmas Peonies.
Perhaps not, but there were cops and robbers, cowboys and indians…. and at least in my mind, princes and princesses.
**love you, sis**
June 11, 2007 at 5:14 pm
This was an awesome post. It took me a while to learn the relationship between the ants and the peonies, too. Sorry I haven’t taken the time to comment lately, but I’ve been around. Just have ever so much going on. I’ve been reading your blog for a while now. I think you could write one heck of a book! Seriously.