Friday, March 9, 2012

They'll Grow Back



I think of my Grandma today.  The little television set in her kitchen. Her closet.  A treasure chest of costume jewelry and coloring books.

I picture myself curled up on the couch cushions beneath a portrait she made, from thread, of a girl reading.  How it came to our house when it no longer belonged in hers. 

I remember, just after she was gone, someone wondered out loud, if we had been close.  And I didn't know how to answer that.  I didn't know if I had ever been close to anyone.  What it meant to be near anything at all.  So I stumbled over words. Well.  No. Yes. But...still.

She kept plants at the window, always. Some bright and in bloom.  Others with leaves yellow, withered.  I asked why she kept those at all. 

They'll grow back, she said, standing over a pot of coffee. 

And they did.

15 comments:

  1. Melissa, I think I'm gonna cry. You just made me miss my mom. :(

    You write beautiful posts...

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a wonderful image you created with so few words. Thank you for sharing this, I really enjoyed it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've been thinking of my grandma lately, too. she was very classy, a total Donna Reed from the 1950s, to the point she still wore pearls and low heels while making dinner for everyone into her 80s.

    ReplyDelete
  4. After a friend's brother-in-law was killed tragically, a coworker asked her if they "had been close." What response were they looking for, I wonder? Would it have dulled the pain of his passing if she said "no"? We talked about that for quite a while over dinner. I know people struggle when others are grieving, and no one knows "the right thing" to say. It's just so hard.

    These are lovely remembrances of your grandmother -- I'm sure she was a very kind, wise woman.

    ReplyDelete
  5. You totally made me miss my Grandma :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Very well expressed without lots of fluff.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Beautiful - reflective, understated, poignant.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Moving. I've been thinking about my grandmother a lot lately too. I had a kind one and a difficult one, and I realized how we overlooked the kind one so often because the other was so full of drama. I miss my kind grandma. xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  9. This is absolutely gorgeous. You have a naturally poetic voice. Thank you for sharing, this brightened my day.

    Sarah Allen
    (my creative writing blog)

    ReplyDelete
  10. This is gorgeous. Such emotion. Very well done!

    ReplyDelete
  11. So nice. I love how the circle of life can be seen in the everyday.

    ReplyDelete
  12. A beautiful post, Melissa. And a wonderful grandmother. And the answer to the question you were asked is, can one truly 'know' another person? I believe that you have held onto a precious thread of your grandmother that is opened with that simple memory.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Very beautiful. Funny how a relationship can be so hard to define. I love how elegantly you show how a person can weave themselves so tightly into our life without us even realizing it sometimes.

    ReplyDelete