Nana Moore's Myrtle, Gift #23

At first, it was nothing special. Irene and I wandered outside,mostly because it was just too lovely outside in that sunshine to stay inside in the dark house. We talked, and walked, and Irene picked the bark on the tree. Then, as she bent down to pick up sticks on the ground, I saw it...



It might not look like much there, but it is the myrtle I planted, from my mom's house. You see, I lived with my mom for about four years while Michael and Rachel were still very, very young. She had a log cabin in upstate New York. Both my mom and I agree, that those were some really good days. Tough days, and trying in many ways for other reasons, but I can't put into words how much I miss having my mom to talk to every day. Even still. After all of these years away, I still miss it {miss her} so much.

One year, shortly before she sold and moved out of the log cabin, we took a summer trip up to New York. While I was there, I told her how pretty her myrtle looked in the front flower bed, and she told me to take some home with me. I remember looking at her like a kid in a candy shop, and I set to work digging it up, and preparing it to weather the long trip back to Georgia in the summer heat. I planted it under the oak tree in the backyard when we got home, but it was a young and spindly tree that couldn't offer much shade. In New York, the myrtle likes sun, but it wanted to hide from this new kind of searing heat that it found in Georgia. I had picked a bad spot with not enough shade. I kept watering it, but it had died. For years, I have thought it was dead. Until today. Now that the tree has grown up some and filled out, the plant has found the shade that it needs beneath the oak tree in our own little Georgia backyard. Long after I had given up, God saw fit to gift me with a little piece of home to keep me company and remind me of my sweet mom. It makes me feel good to know that what we see is not always what is the truth. He can be growing a new plant right under our nose, but we just can't see it yet. THIS is what I am thankful for today!