I
can remember there always being peonies in grandma's yard. There was a big
bunch of wine-colored peonies by the garage, and another huge bunch of
white peonies over the branch in the back of the house. The old
garage is gone, and the branch has been filled in over the years, but the
peonies are still here, and they are the same ones that were here
when I was a little girl.
Several
years ago, when we decided to build a garage back to replace the old one
that had been torn down years ago, we had to get the property ready.
One of the things to be moved was the big peony that lived in the front
right corner of the old garage. My son actually pulled the peony out
of the ground and laid it aside. The property was prepared and the
process of building the garage began. It took about 2 months go get
the work done, and, to our surprise, we found the peony lying on the
ground, exactly where it had been left, dried out and looking very much
dead. I was heartbroken. I so wanted to save the beautiful
peony to put back in front of our new garage.
I
pointed out to Howard that the peony was gone and he said we would put it
in a bucket of water and see what happens. I have to say I had
little to no faith that it would do anything but rot. We put the
peony in water and left it. Actually, I forgot about it after a
while.
One day
Howard came in and said, come out here, I want you to look at
something. We walked out and in the bucket was the peony, sprouting
out new! I could not believe my eyes! I was thrilled. He
immediately dug up a spot at the right corner of the new garage and
planted grandma's peony. I still did not know if it would live or
not, but I did have faith that now there was a chance it would live.
We
watched in amazement as the peony grew and began to bud out, and one
morning I awoke to beautiful wine-colored peonies in front of the
garage! I was overwhelmed with joy and praise! The beautiful
flower my grandma loved so much had been saved. It continued to grow
and flourish over the next several years, and we decided it had to be
divided.
The
white peony in the back of the house was still growing and blooming every
year, big and beautiful white blooms. We decided to separate the
wine-colored peonies and transplant them between the white ones, and I
knew it would be okay because I saw the miracle of the wine-colored
peony. I knew these flowers of grandma's weren't going anywhere,
there were here to stay for eternity!
I now
have a beautiful row of white and wine-colored peonies in the back yard
that I can see every time I look out grandma's kitchen window! Oh
what beautiful memories they bring back every time I look at them. I
can hardly wait every spring for them to bloom out and show their beauty
to me one more time.
Just as
these beautiful peonies continue to keep me company, so do many other
things at grandma's house. Everyday I look around and see something
that takes me back to when I was a little girl, growing up in grandma's
house. I am so blessed!
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