The third Monday of the month is when I write my Memory Lane Monday post!  This month my post centers around a flower that holds a couple of strong memories for me.

I took this picture last Tuesday on April 14th.  This amaryllis is not only exquisitely beautiful, but it holds meaningful memories for me.

I visited my mom shortly before she moved out of her home in Dunedin, FL.  As I admired her amaryllis, she decided to dig up a couple of bulbs for me to take home with me to Texas.  I planted them in the flower bed at the back of our house, and they have done beautifully for years!  That was I guess over 15 years ago that she sent me home with them.  Since then they have multiplied to four bulbs.

Even while Mom was still with us, I would always think of her when the amaryllis bloomed every year.  This year is the first time it’s bloomed since she’s been gone, and it seems more brilliant than ever to me.

The other memory I have every year when it blooms is this one:

 

Big Eagle and I kept our first granddaughter Helen when she was a year old while her parents went on a ski trip.  This picture was taken on April 22, 2011, and it’s one of my favorites of this little dear one.  So as well as thinking of my mom each year when it blooms, I also think of this photo session with Little H as we called her.

I think this year may be the earliest the amaryllis has bloomed.  I don’t know if it was an heirloom flower when Mom gave it to me, but I definitely consider it an heirloom flower now.  And I plan to one day give one or two of the bulbs to my daughter whenever she and Paul move back to the states and settle down.  I don’t know if my son Danny will ever be back in the states, but if so, I would love to pass the bulbs on to him and Erin as well.  To me, that is the definition of heirloom.  Something passed down through the generations.

I hope the plant continues to multiply in the meantime.

God bless you, Mom, wherever your spirit is roaming.  And thank you for this beautiful gift.  I love you and always will.