Sunday, May 9, 2010

happy mother's day

we planted the wisteria as a gift. it grew up around the crosshatched archway, weaving in and out in a mass of green life. but that was the problem. it was only green.

we planted another one, on the other side of the arch. now two vines framed the entryway, growing and gracing the wooden frame with twisted, sprawling limbs. but the entire mass of leaves and branches was green. just green. that wisteria just wouldn't bloom.

we planted the wisteria as a gift. it took it about ten years to start making flowers. the day the first bud appeared, a splash of purple in a sea of spring leaves, my grammy smiled.

so every year we asked about the wisteria. we'd walk in the door and ask, "grammy, how many?" even though we could have walked around back and counted the blossoms ourselves. but she'd tell us. she'd counted. she knew. last year i think there were five.

my grammy loved that wisteria. every year she watched and hoped that maybe this year we'd get more flowers than before. considering the enormity of the vine, it was usually a pretty meager turnout, but my grammy just loved to see those little purple clumps in her wisteria bush. she loved to watch them and count them and tell us about them.

my grammy died this past december. she'll never count the blossoms on her wisteria again. so i guess now i'll have to do it myself. but this year, that will be a harder task than ever. i don't even know if i can count that high.

this year, the wisteria is blooming.

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