"memory is a way of holding onto the things we love,
the things you are,
the things you never want to lose"
~from the television show, the Wonder Years~
But i remember New Jersey in a much different way. We lived in a small town in upstate. Homes were on at least one acre and most have much more land. The main road is still two lanes that wind thru the beautiful wooded landscape. All the roads are lined with imported Belgium bricks.
We used to joke that "you could throw a rock and hit a relative". There were many of us there. I always feel sorry for newcomers...they had a very hard time breaking into our community...we were a very tight knit with very deep roots.
My grandfather and his brother build their homes in the early 1900's and farmed the land. I remember playing in the fields and swimming in the river as a child. I remember the beautiful gladiolus that my grandmother grew and sold along the roadside. I remember the home with its hand cut wooden floors, the cellar with the coal furnace, the clothes drying on the line outside. I remember my grandmother, always in a dress, sitting in the shade of the big maple tree cooling off in the heat of the summer. There was so many good memories there.
When my grandmother passed and we left New Jersey,
i brought a small memory back with me....
her Lily of the Valley.
Today i have them planted in my backyard, under my maple tree. Each spring when they bloom, all these memories and more come flooding back.
Today i am going to link my post with Kat Eye Studio... photo heart connection. She challenges us to review our photos from the prior month and find the one that captures our heart. These Lily of the Valley certainly captures mine!
Be sure to click here to see everyone's photo heart connection.
Until next time...
nancyjean
