Alta’s Peonies
Living gratefully today, I enjoyed the walk my husband Darcy and I just took, and I give thanks for the recovery connections I have.
Recovery from alcoholism has made deeper relationships possible for me. With others, myself, Nature, and a tender-loving, ever graceful Great Spirit.
I see beauty and grace in the blossoms and blooms of this season. Below are pictures of peonies we have had in our backyard for nearly 14 years. They have been at this place almost as long as we have.
They are peonies planted by Darcy's Grandma Alta. Alta died in late 1995, so I never got to meet her. I did appreciate and enjoy knowing Darcy's Grandpa Matt for several years before his death in 2007.
Darcy recalls where these peonies were, near a corner and close to the picture window of the house that Alta and Matt had built in 1977. The peonies were planted in 1978. Grandpa Matt moved to assisted living a few years before his death, and the house was bought and moved out of state.
On one of our visits to see Grandpa, in the summer of 2006, we intentionally took a shovel and a pail. We drove to the farm place, saw where the house had once stood, and Darcy's memory led him to where he might find the peonies. Enough had survived the bulldozing and other earth-moving that he could dig some up. We brought them to our home and got them back in the ground in their own special place.
It took a few years before they started blooming, but now they are faithful in their glory each year.
As I write this, blossoms are filling out in splendor. Rain is on the way, so some will be gone soon. I took these pictures just this morning:
Recovery from alcoholism has made deeper relationships possible for me. With others, myself, Nature, and a tender-loving, ever graceful Great Spirit.
I see beauty and grace in the blossoms and blooms of this season. Below are pictures of peonies we have had in our backyard for nearly 14 years. They have been at this place almost as long as we have.
They are peonies planted by Darcy's Grandma Alta. Alta died in late 1995, so I never got to meet her. I did appreciate and enjoy knowing Darcy's Grandpa Matt for several years before his death in 2007.
Darcy recalls where these peonies were, near a corner and close to the picture window of the house that Alta and Matt had built in 1977. The peonies were planted in 1978. Grandpa Matt moved to assisted living a few years before his death, and the house was bought and moved out of state.
On one of our visits to see Grandpa, in the summer of 2006, we intentionally took a shovel and a pail. We drove to the farm place, saw where the house had once stood, and Darcy's memory led him to where he might find the peonies. Enough had survived the bulldozing and other earth-moving that he could dig some up. We brought them to our home and got them back in the ground in their own special place.
It took a few years before they started blooming, but now they are faithful in their glory each year.
As I write this, blossoms are filling out in splendor. Rain is on the way, so some will be gone soon. I took these pictures just this morning:
Hearty transplants. Glorious colors. Gifts to behold. Reasons to pause. Alta's peonies live on.
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