VIOLETS AND LILACS

There's a funny thing about memories. Sometimes they come whole and detailed and other times they are like little slices of events that happened a long time ago. They can be resurrected by sights, sounds, smells, objects, photos, and sometimes by nothing at all. In this case it was a plant. When Mom died, Vic received a plant from his co-workers. You know the kind, I think it's called a dish garden. One by one the plants died off except one small but healthy looking violet. I didn't remember anything about violets at the time I plucked it out and transplanted it in another pot. I just thought it was too healthy looking not to save. I watered it and put it next to a window for light. It didn't seem to require much care and in fact, began to grow larger and healthier. Soon, I had to transplant it again and it grew to be more than a foot across. About a month ago, or maybe more, I noticed that it had flower buds. Two weeks ago, the first violet bloomed. It's pink and the petals have a sheen of iridescence. As soon as it bloomed, I remembered Dad and his violets. In my mind, I saw him tending several plants and recalled just how much he fussed over them as if he was willing them to bloom. And they did. I remember thinking that for such a "tough" guy he treated them so tenderly. I wasn't surprised by that because there was a tender streak in Dad. One he didn't acknowledge but was easy to see if there was a baby in the room, or a puppy. You may think that is a funny duo, but maybe it was easier for Dad to show his soft side with little humans and little dogs. This memory brought back another one. A very long time ago, when I was a little child, we went to visit a couple who may have been family but could have just been friends of Mom and Dad. I don't even remember where it was. All I remember, it that we drove up a driveway that was lined on both sides with lilac trees or maybe they were just big bushes. It was spring, and the scent of those lilacs was beautiful. We visited there more than once. I wish I could remember just when and how I learned that Dad loved lilacs, but love them he did. He never planted lilacs or any other flowers but he loved growing a garden of vegetables and nurturing houseplants. Somewhere I have a photo of a 5 lb. tomato from his garden and a funny looking carrot. He would fuss over houseplants and more than once he would bring me cuttings and in one case a giant aloe plant. Part of that plant died off naturally, but all the "baby" aloes are growing happily in a new pot next to a window in my home.