Making Some New Memories

May 2, 1993.
That's the day Mom died unexpectedly at the age of 50.
I was 24 and had wedding plans on my mind.
Mom did too.
On June 26, Paul and I were to be married.
Mom and I were in the midst of wedding plan bliss.

May 2, 1993.
My life changed.
May 2 is an icky day. The best part of May 2 for me is when I go to bed. That means that another May 2 is over.

Several weeks ago, I received a post card in the mail from our local greenhouse. May 2, 2009...a container gardening workshop from 9:00 until 11:00.

Wow.
What a great way to spend a May 2 morning. Those morning hours on May 2, 1993 were probably the most difficult hours of my life.
Doing something that Mom absolutely loved sounded like a way to celebrate her life rather than do what I do every year...which is to mourn and brood.
Mom loved to garden. She had a very, very green thumb.
Sadly enough, I did not inherit that green thumb.

This morning, I had so much fun!
I was able to be creative and stick my hands in the dirt and play.
I was able to spend some precious time with two of my most favorite girlfriends...Carrie and Judy.
I was able to remember Mom's life...not her death.



Judy and Carrie putting into practice what we just learned about container gardening.



Here's Miss Creative herself.
Carrie brought a plastic carrier that she thought would make a cute container for her flowers.
Look at the beautiful sun-loving plants she found--especially that spiky one on the right!



Here's Judy with her finished container. It was so pretty! She used such subtle colors and textures. It looked just like something she would create.
Did I mention that Carrie gets her creativity from Judy?



Here's my finished product.
I bought this container years ago because I loved the colors on it.
Now, it's a container that fits in just right on my front porch...meaning that I needed to find some shade-lovers.

 

And Carrie's container.
She found the neatest plants! Look at the one "cascading" over the front of her planter! She did such a great job of choosing and placing her plants.

My favorite, though, are her sunny yellow snapdragons. I love them, because I remember my paternal Grandma making her red snapdragons talk to me by squeezing them.

 

I wasn't the only one who loved Carrie's arrangement.
She won the most votes for "Best Container" and won this season's award-winning rose bush! The fragrance of the rose's blooms is amazing!

I love that she won this rose bush on a day that has such meaning to me.
She will someday be able to dig up her rose bush and move it to her home with her...and remember that special day that we spent together.
That is...if we don't kill it off first. Hopefully, she also inherited my mom's green thumb. :)

Did I mention that she's named after my mom? Carrie is short for Carolyn, my Mom's name.

 

So, it turned out to be a pretty special day.

We got home and found places for our flowers.





Dad called to check in on me.
William and I mowed the yard.
(I have to say here that William has just started weed-eating our yard. What a great job he is doing! He is a quick learner and takes correction and suggestion very well--always with a smile. I'm very proud of him.)
I weeded some of the front flower bed.
We had our Saturday night pizza.

May 2, 2009 is over.
But this year, I wouldn't mind if it had lasted a little bit longer.