Basswood Road

I moved to Basswood Road when I was about 5, before I was in school..no kindergarten for me, straight to 1st grade and guess what, I was a genius! I remember how exciting it was to read the word "Something", such a big word for a child that did not have Sesame Street or PBS. I swear I never saw the alphabet in order until I saw it above that black board at Osceola school. I still love Dick & Jane in their white bread world, because they taught me how to read which I still love all these years later.
My Dad still lives on Basswood Road and my Daughter Aubrey moved in when my Mom died.
When my Mom was dying she told me to get her bulbs and she was not talking about Christmas lights, she was talking flower bulbs. Once she quit working she kicked into some crazy Martha Stewart wanna-be who would almost cry with pain at the end of the day from gardening. I am talking a flatbed truck might not work for all the plants.
And please note, I am not a gardener.. I got poison ivy one time which turned into shingles which turned me off being in any weeds. But my Mom told me to get her bulbs.
I went to Basswood road yesterday after work and I dug up some flowers. I had to get the iris plants with flowers so I knew what color they were. I could not get the tulips that were the most amazing tulips ever when they bloomed last Spring.. my Mom never saw how wonderful they were. But we all did and it broke our hearts.
But I leaned the shovel against the truck and cried in front of my Dad. He said mowing the lawn was so hard and I pictured him coming around the corner and not seeing her bent over some new plant or weeding like a maniac. I don't know how he can do it.
And then, later I asked him where she got all the rocks from around the bushes. Did she buy them? He said she picked them up in the yard and carried them in 5 gallon buckets.. and I had to laugh. I miss the silly things my Mom would do.
And Basswood Road was her home.
And in many ways it will always be mine too.
(And Mom, I still am not a big fan of gardening but you know, you never liked to read, love you, miss you, see you soon!)