Marigolds all in a row

Grandma Liz had been raising her 3 grandchildren since they were young. Their daddy walked out and left her daughter a single mother. Grandma Liz worked but her own mother cared for the two boys and one girl. Now they were teens and life was changing. One grandson Will was especially problematic. He was hanging out with some boys that grandma Liz thought to be trouble and she knew she had to do something right away.

The family lived in a hundred year old home in the county that had no running water, indoor plumbing, or heating system. They had to use an outhouse and chop wood and carry buckets of coal to heat the clapboard house. In spite of this, the country air was fresh and the mountains were beautiful. In time Grandma Liz moved the family to the nearby city 10 miles away. She missed the hills and valleys of the county and the large spaces between neighbor's homes.

The house they now lived in was an old wooden structure but at least it had indoor plumbing and running water. They still had to make fires in a stove and the front yard was very small. Grandma Liz pondered that most people go to the county for a better life but she had come to the city to keep her grandson out of trouble. Will had been hanging with a group of white boys who drank and it was rumored that they also did drugs.

Grandma Liz had lived for over 50 years in that community and the blacks and whites all got along. They even visited each other's churches but there was no intermingling or dating or marrying between the races and that's just the way it was. She was now questioning her decision because of the lack of space and fresh air. All the houses were close to each other and she missed the county desperately. She especially missed seeing butterflies atop the marigolds that grew in the field.

When spring rolled around she purchased some flower seeds and planted them in the small front yard. She was amazed when the orange marigolds began to bloom and felt a little bit of the county had been birthed in this city yard. The following spring the marigolds returned and seemed to have doubled. Grandma Liz was so excited that she removed some from the earth and gave them to her sister who lived nearby.

One year later in spite of her giving away a large number of the plants the orange marigolds returned and seemed to have quadrupled in size. These plants reappearing each spring helped aunt Liz deal with the city life and reminded her of the beauty of nature. Grandma Liz spent her remaining years in and out of hospitals and finally in a long term care facility. One day she looked out of her window on a bright summer day and realized that there were flowers in front of the retirement center across the street.

When her granddaughter came to visit she asked to be taken outside in her wheelchair and rolled to where she could get a closer look at the flowers. Grandma Liz was excited to see that there were yellow and orange marigold's swaying in the warm summer breeze. A feeling of deja vu came over her and she smiled as she thought back decades ago,

She recalled the beautiful plants that one of her cousins had in the front yard when they lived in the county and she could almost smell the scent of the flowers that grew every year. Her mind then went to the front yard in her city home where her marigolds had reappeared and multiplied for many years in a row. Grandma Liz asked her granddaughter to take her back to her room and tried to hide her tears along the way.

That night grandma Liz dreamed of vast fields of marigolds all in a row. They were larger than any she had ever seen and appeared to be glowing as if the sunlight was specifically kissing each one. The scent of the flowers was so strong and sweet she thought she must be in heaven. She could hear music in the background and thought she heard the voice of her deceased husband calling to her.

The next morning the nursing home employees found Grandma Liz was dead with a big smile on her face. Her old frail cold body was lying on the bed but she was actually far far away. Liz was dancing and skipping with youthful vim and vigor through a field of gigantic, glorious marigold's holding the hand of her husband with whom she had been reunited after 30 years 9of separation.