My mother has been visiting with us for a couple of weeks. On the seventh of April, she will be eighty-seven years young. I still learn from her, as I hope she learns from me. At every stage in life we have wisdom to impart.
She is lovely, this one. Like a vintage china cup embellished with delicate roses that have faded with time, so too, the lines in my mother’s face are creased with a life well-lived.
In life, we have our time for roses that bloom on a summer’s day in our youth. Later, those blooms are pressed upon our hearts, their fragrance sweeter with the passage of time.
I try to share the pieces of my life with my mother; like mismatched china cups, all are placed on the tea-table of our time together. The table may seem a bit crowded at times, so many things clamoring for attention. Still, there is the soothing cup of tea, and with the rising mist of the tea kettle warming the kitchen, all seems well with the world.
My mother loves to see the grandchildren, and the great grandchildren, and she knows that I am a proud grandmother as well. These have been hard times with the pandemic. We cannot always see one another in person. We have had many outdoor gatherings, and some indoor gatherings, mostly wearing masks. Throughout it all, I have tried to share news with my mother about all the goings-on in the family, and for her to visit in the safest way possible.
I share some of my blog posts with my mother. She smiles, and asks if I have written about the owls in my back woods. Of course, she would think of the owls! She knows how much I love them. Few things in the woods are as enchanting as the owls, and we have quite a few of them.
This is the true treasure of time spent with my mother. She, like those who love us so completely, is aware of all my favorite things. She simply knows me so very well!
When she arrived, she presented me with two decorator bunnies that can sit upon a little chair. I fell in love with those bunnies, and placed them in the entryway of our house so I could see them all the time.
Those rabbits remind me of spring and the garden, and the coming of Easter. I tell my mother, “Thank you for the bunnies. I love them!” She laughs when I tell her, because she already knew that I would like them. Those rabbits dressed up for springtime were the perfect gift.
From the time I was a small child, I loved tea parties. I had tea beneath a lovely tree with my great grandmother when I was very little. It was just us and the birds who serenaded those blissful hours.
There were always the most exquisite china cups, and I was allowed to have my own. How grown-up I felt with that precious cup in my small hands, and how I enjoyed the shortbread cookies, and the luscious key lime, or lemon meringue pie.
Time itself can be such a tease. We recollect these moments in the past, and it is as if we were there again, as if the years had not slipped away. But, time is an elusive thing, the sand in the hour glass always pouring out. We must live the moments as they come as fully as we can. That way, we enjoy the present, and have a rich store of happy memories to look back upon.
My mother asks me if I still play the piano. I took some lessons as a gift to myself for my fiftieth birthday. I remind my mother that it is really too late for the piano, and that I would need a lot more practice. She raises her eyebrows a bit, and makes a simple comment: “It is never too late to do something you really want to do.”
My mother has reminded me of one of those forgotten pieces of my life…a piece that brought me joy. I drag out the books of music, determined to play an easy song. Like a china cup that has not been used in a very long time, the music books are sitting on a shelf, seemingly abandoned.
But if there is anything that I have learned from my mother, at the tea-table of life, it is this: drag out all the missing pieces of your best china, pour the tea, and have a party! It does not matter if you are five, twenty-five, or seventy-five. Drink it up. Use some cream and sugar. Serve the best goodies you have on hand. And, don’t wait for a better day when the winds may be fairer, or the house might be cleaner. Now, is the day to create moments worth remembering in your life.
The tea-table of our lives stands ready, and time is fleeting. Sharing a cup of coffee or tea with the special people in our lives need not wait for a special occasion. But, for me at the present moment, the piano awaits and I must play a song. I have the finest audience, and I know that she will applaud my musical debut, no matter how poor the performance. But, perhaps, she is right. It is never too late to try again. And, what finer thing than a song to serenade our time together…a mother and a daughter, who have shared both the summer blooms and the faded roses, in a a trellis of memories we keep within our hearts.
My mom would have been 87 now. The last time I saw her I played her favorite song on the piano. “Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus”. I love that your tea table stands ready. I guess I say that wistfully and that’s ok.
How wonderful that you played that song for her! Whatever we do that makes someone else happy, is a wonderful thing. I bet she looks down from heaven, and sees your awesome photographs of God’s creation. She must say, “Wow, that’s my boy!” I so loved that last picture in your blog of the owl…just amazing!
Wonderful memories
Yes! We are so blessed in all the ordinary moments of our lives. The ordinary is not so ordinary in retrospect.
Such beautiful, meditative writing. I like to slow down and read things like this…taking time to smell the roses. 🙂 You expressed so well your love and respect for your mother. Thank you for sharing.
Life does go by so fast. It seems we are always ahead of ourselves. The roses are there; it is easy to miss them! 🙂
This is such a beautiful tribute to your mother. I shared those same cups of tea and conversation in the final years of my mother’s life.
I am so glad you shared that time together! I have been writing down my mother’s stories. There are so many pages, and so much wonder there. In the end though, the special moments are all about the people we have loved. The pages would be empty without the love stories, the chatter at the kitchen table, the silly things that happen in the course of a day.
You are so right about those special moments. I cherish them.
The bonds of love remain unbroken; our loved ones live within our hearts. Thank God for that! We are separated from our beloveds for a time until we are reunited in heaven. Until then, our cherished memories do sustain us. You were blessed to have a close relationship with your mom. It is something that many people never have. Your trellis is full of roses…roses that will bloom forever.
Thank you for that thought, Linda. My trellis indeed full of roses that will bloom forever.
Without having met her, I love her already. Any mother who would ask if you have written about the owls on your blog, deserves an extra warm hug on the 7th of April!
Thank you Mary! I will give her that hug! 🙂
Building those memories. No matter how old our parents grow, they seem to still know us the best. Precious times, Linda. God’s grip – Alan
You are right Alan…our parents know us so very well. They love us in spite of our faults. It is a beautiful thing! God gives us a little window into heaven when we see such great love.
As I read your post with my heart, I thought I’d tear up at the words, My mother loves to see the grandchildren, and the great grandchildren, but I didn’t. Instead, I was caught off guard a few lines later by We must live the moments as they come as fully as we can. Only my Jesus can help me do that.
You have such a beautiful heart! I am deeply moved by so many of your posts. But, you are right…only Jesus can transform our lives. Only Jesus can fix the broken places in our lives. God is good. He is very, very good. He never changes; His love never fails us. May His abiding love shelter you, and may you know that God is there in every single moment. Therein is the joy that overtakes our hearts.
You are truly an artist with both words and photographs. Thanks for the vicarious tea party.
Thank you so very much! You made my day! I like to take pictures, but I have much to learn! Still, I have so much fun taking the pictures that it is well worth the effort. I am glad you enjoyed my tea party!!! 🙂 It would not be the same without you!
It was a lovely read about your time spend with your mom and the conversation you had with her. Oh, those precious joyful moments with loved ones. I agree, no need to wait for a better day, now is the time to enjoy the present.
We really only have the present; it is a gift to live in the moment. Although circumstances at times may be less than perfect, there is still the potential for joy. I think joy is often found in the simplest of things. Living our passions is so important too; like you, with your gift of creative cooking. What joy that you share your gift with others, perhaps giving them the confidence to try something new as well. So many people say that they cannot cook; your wonderful recipes might inspire someone to give it a chance.
Your Mother sounds like a wonderful person – you paint her so vividly in this post for all of us who haven’t met her. Lovely photo too, Linda x
I take a lot of pictures! 🙂 You have to take quite a few to get some good ones! I have enjoyed this time with my mom…she is a wonderful lady!
I miss my mom so much! She and I were two completely different souls and yet we loved each other. I was probably the rose tea cup and she would’ve been the larger contemporary mug. But she always gave me little knickknacks that she knew I’d love just like your mom brought you the bunnies. And I keep the knickknacks all over my home touching them and reminding me of her. Enjoy your mom‘s visit and have a tea party every day! ❤️💜
I lost my father when I was in my early thirties. I still miss him all the time. It is such a hard thing to lose a parent. Like you with your mom, I feel so blessed by all the memories. I thank God for all the wonderful times we shared together.
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a delightful tribute to your adoring mother!
Had a visit recently from my best friend who is also a tea party addict! Found her the best High Tea place and we made some memories 🙂
I am so glad that you made some great memories over tea! It sounds like a wonderful place! 🙂
it was ideal, overlooking the fields …
🙂 🙂 🙂
That’s lovely that you got to have such a good visit with your mother!
Yes to tea parties, rabbits, flowers, and treats! We used out good china a few times for dinner during the pandemic, even though it was just my husband and me here.
I love that you used the good china for the two of you! Life is about celebrating the moments as they come. There really are no ‘ordinary’ days; why not celebrate on any given day of the year? (I know those china plates at your house had some tasty things to eat on them!) One of your recent posts showing your baked breads made me very hungry! 🙂
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What a lovely post! And what a lovely and timely message. Yes, the time is now to celebrate life and all the goodness that we have. I was lucky enough to be able to take my mother to church last Sunday for the first time in a year (she’s had her vaccinations, and the church required masks and practiced social distancing.) She was so happy to be there. And she sang all the hymns, even though I found out later she really wasn’t supposed to. But you know what? I didn’t care. It had been the first time in a year I heard my mother sing, and it was a gift.
I am so glad that you heard your mother sing! 🙂 The vaccines have been life-changing, that is for sure. It has been a very long year…at last, the tide has changed for the better. 🙂 We do have much to celebrate!
Linda, the blog that Caitlynn mentioned in her most recent blog post is: http://www.rabbitpatchdiary.com. I hope this works, I can’t tell if it’s a link or not, but if you google it, you should find Michele’s blog. I know you will enjoy it!
Thank you Ann! I will look for it! 🙂