Her Garden...Your Garden

My Best Habit

As a little girl, I would sneak into my mother’s room while she was in the shower and rummage through her drawers. I didn’t have to be sneaky around her because she was a generous woman, one who would give the world to her children if she could.

Yet, there was something spontaneous about being sneaky and being caught. I wasn’t looking for her square-shaped princess earrings or her rose-colored lipstick. I wasn’t trying to play dress-up, I was looking for one of her simple, baggy and worn T-shirts.

I would press the tarnished seams up against my body, jump on top of my parents’ bed and admire myself in the mirror, peering over one shoulder, peering over the other and, of course, checking my backside to make sure the bagginess was plenty, the holes many and the comfort just right... 

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The Simplicity of Children

A paper shopping bag, two colorful bead bracelets and a stack of coasters, these are items that can keep a child amazed and satisfied for hours.  Children simplify life.  They remind us that a ketchup stain or a stumble on the pavement, can't keep you from playing. Instead these mishaps are stories to embellish our adventures.  With children it is just that simple. 

California Dreamin'

During the summer my mom always had a bowl of cherries on the kitchen counter.  I try to keep even these little traditions alive around the house. 

Upside Down

"Everything looks cooler upside down," I said.

"Wow, it really does," she confirmed.

"How come my life doesn't look that cool when it is upside down?" I said.

My mom was the only one I could cry to. And I was the only one she could cry to. It was our thing. We could only cry to each other.

When the day got the best of me, and I couldn't cry to my mom, I wasn't sure who to go to or where to go. I just wanted to be a kid again. I wanted to go back to when she was young and free of pain. The time in my life when she could wrap me up in a ball, kiss my forehead and tell me to free my troubled mind. Sadly, I can't bring her back. So instead I decided to bring my childhood back.

It is just two chains and a piece of rubber. It is simple. It is forgiving. It is a swing. And its' simple construction creates endless opportunities and an incredible sense of liberation. It takes you back to when you were you young. When you could cuddle up in your mother's arms and be entertained for hours just by her sparkly gold jewelry. It is the child in all of us. And while turning your life upside down can be scary, experiencing this rush provides a valuable perspective.