Yesterday I got to pick blueberries and figs at my cousins property. When I was invited this past week I jumped at the opportunity!
What is it about standing in the hot sun, swatting bugs and dodging the thorny branches that is sheer joy? My husband, my cousin and I were all picking and talking and reminiscing about my aunt (his grandmother) that passed away last week. He had photos to show me, I had stories to tell him and all the time we were picking blueberries. Before we knew it we had two huge containers full. Then he said I should go pick figs - and me not being one to argue did just that! They are ripe and sweet and I love them.
Tomorrow I will make blueberry jam and possibly something decadent with my figs - I am thinking a balsamic syrup. How wonderful will that be with blue cheese and walnuts in the fall!! Think I just made myself drool a little!
It is wonderful to enjoy the bounty of God's earth. It is good to spend time with family - I cannot stress that enough. The two are intertwined you know. God gives us family to love, to share our lives with. Sometimes we lose the connection and sometimes something brings us all back together - my aunt did that. I can see her smiling now and being right happy with herself for doing just that.
My mother is now the "matriarch" of this Southern Family and I pray it is a title she holds for many years to come. We are planning a dinner and reunion of sorts in the fall. That would please my aunt and my grandmother. Everyone will "bring a dish" and we will eat together, look at old photos that have long been forgotten and we will most assuredly enjoy something sweet ... some of it made with blueberries.
My heart is heavy this afternoon. One of my family, my aunt is very ill. I visited her in the hospital yesterday and I know this will be the last time I see her. On the drive home I could not help but remember all the things I had done with this lady in my lifetime.
She celebrated her 90th birthday in March. She has led a very interesting life. Born in Atlanta and lived in Georgia all her life. When she was a teenager she had her own bluegrass band in which she played the guitar and sang and they were on the radio every week. She was from a musical family and when together my mom would play the piano and their late brother would play the guitar and they would all sing. How I wish I could hear the three of them sing one more time. She married young and started a family. Her husband served in the army during WWII and my aunt worked at Bell Bomber Plant in Marietta, GA as a riveter. Her photo is featured in the book Images of America: The Bell Bomber Plant by Joe Kirby (www.arcadiapublishing.com). She raised three children with her husband and worked several more jobs after the war.
I wanted to be at her house any chance I got. I was close to my cousin and she was like a sister to me. We vacationed together and during the summers I was spending the night at her house or she was at mine. My aunt would take us shopping and we would "lunch" at the counter of the Woolworth's. A dollar would pay for a day long adventure. My only close encounter with a hurricane was with her, my uncle and cousin in Jacksonville Beach when I was about 10 years old. Got out of town fast!
Over thirty years ago she beat cancer. A strong woman she loved to garden and feed the birds. We often talked about gardening and I think I got the love of the land from all the women in my family.
As she aged I saw her less but would send her cards and special things for birthdays and Christmas. I know she is tired and ready to go on to be with her loved ones. She is taking a part of my heart and I will miss her.
One thing I know, I am the woman I am today in part because of her. I hope she knows how much I love her, how much I admire her and how much I will treasure the times we spent together. I talked about her in my first blog - I consider her one of my "three moms" - my real one, my grandmother and my aunt. Families who have that connection are blessed.
So here is to Mary Etta. Southern lady, musician, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, wife, sister, daughter and beloved aunt.
