Rose of Sharon

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August in Texas is by far one of the most unbearable months of the year.  This year has been especially hot and there are very few of our beautiful flowers that make it through the beating that the August sun tortures them with day in and day out ..... except for one, and this particular flower holds its head high daily..... no matter what temperature is .... she is beautiful every day.  I am fond of this flower for a couple of reasons, but one reason is a little closer to my heart.  You see, every day I get up and make my coffee and start my day at the kitchen window and every day right outside the window I enjoy the sight of a hedge of Rose of Sharon.  I enjoy watching the hummingbirds in all their glory buzz from bloom to bloom lapping up every last drop of nectar.  I enjoy hearing the cardinal that sits among the blooms call out to his mate and he is such a vibrant red against the green leaves and purple, white and pink blooms .... but more importantly I enjoy a memory of my sweet father in law.  Hardly a day passes in the summer that I don't remember him .... all because of the Rose of Sharon.

It's been almost 3 years since Pap Pap passed away.  He was a sweet and gentle man who enjoyed the simple things in life.  His family, his garden and his grandchildren .... all 16 of them.  We all have special memories of him, but if you ask Kadie what her memory is ... she will answer just like me ... Pap Pap made me little dolls from the flowers on that bush outside the kitchen window.  It was a sweet gesture to witness ... out the kitchen window I would watch as he picked the flowers and she would hold the blooms for him as he transformed them into a little doll.  The little doll would have to sit on the counter during dinner and then follow her to bed where the poor little thing would wilt and die and the special moment between Pap Pap and Kadie would happen all over again.  I remember my mother in law warning him that the neighbors were going to get angry because he was picking blooms off the bush ... he would wave her off and take Kadie by the hand to make another.  I'm sure he did this with all of his granddaughters, but I guess its because I look at the same bushes and beautiful blooms every day and I think of him and miss him.  I regret not learning how to make the little dolls or asking Mark to learn how to make them so that someday he too could take our granddaughter by the hand and show her a little doll that he could make from the Rose of Sharon blooms.

So today I tried, hoping that the neighbors didn't see me snatching a few blooms and snapping a few pictures of their bushes .... I made a flower doll.  I will have it sitting on the counter for Kadie to see when she gets home tonight and I'm sure that it will bring very sweet and special memory back to her.

I Miss you much Pap Pap.