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Saturday, May 7, 2011

Lilacs and Memories...

~Hannah, Caleb & Rebekah gathering Mother's Day Lilacs~
(yes... in their pajamas)

Twenty-three years ago, this day, I sat... waiting... impatiently... uncomfortably. I was almost 8 months pregnant with my twins. I was on medicines to stop that labor which had already started twice, prematurely. It caused me to be jittery and retain water. The next day was Mother's Day, and we were planning a little cookout at our house. Little did I know it was the eve of the day my actual labor would begin with no turning back.

I'll spare you the dreaded blow, by blow details. But in a nutshell, after 36 hours of hard labor, my son, Joshua and daughter, Sarah were born by c-section. Things had gone rough, and I had to fight to leave the hospital by the end of the week. Mike's grandfather had died, and we wanted to be home in the embrace of our family.

I was fine, at first. But then it snuck in... the "baby blues".  I was so excited about my babies, but I guess the exhaustion, the hormonal readjustment, the problems with nursing, and the whole "how could I bring such precious beings into such a sick world, all came crashing in.

When I had left for the hospital, the trees were all still hardly budding. But within two weeks, they were in full bloom. The world seemed fresh and new, but my body and spirit were having trouble catching up.

Then... one day... Mike came into the house with what seemed like miles of lilacs. Billowing handfuls, and vases, and pitchers of them.... Dark purple/pink, light purple, and white. The property line was overflowing with antique lilac hedges planted by his grandparents, and they blossomed profusely.

Those lilacs awakened such a joy in me. They reminded me of how much my husband loved me. They reminded me of all the goodness and beauty brimming in my life. The sight and scent of them just flowed through me, and uplifted me completely.

And just like that... the "baby blues" were gone.

Since that early motherhood experience, lilacs have held such a special place in my heart. And every year Mike makes sure that he and/or the kids gather billowing handfuls for mama on or about Mother's Day.

As our family grew, and we moved from that earlier home, we dug up some of the antique lilac sprouts, and brought them with us to our new home. Almost before we did anything else, we planted them along the property line of our new yard. That first spring... the very first time we revved up the ol' lawnmower, our son, Joshua, who was 13, plowed right over the lilacs with the mower, thinking that they were tall weeds.

LOL... One of the funniest memories EVER!!!

But, sure enough, they grew back even more full. It took a few years for them to fill in with blooms... quite a few years. But now, they overflow with gorgeous purple blossoms. And after all these years, no gift, no fancy dinner, no breakfast in bed compares to the joy I get from chubby little hands grasping onto the stems of lilac clusters, accompanied by a heartfelt "Happy Mother's Day"...

I hope all of the Mothers out there in "Blog Land" have a beautiful day tomorrow.


 

Note: I do want to make the point that in no way am I comparing my experience to the more drastic post partum depression. I know that no lilacs or other token of love can just take those serious symptoms away.


2 comments:

priest's wife - S.T./ Anne Boyd said...

what a beautiful memory!

Happy Mother's day!

vivian said...

HI LInda! what a sweet post. I LOVE lilacs. I wish they were in bloom here, but not yet! soon though.. very soon!
Happy Mothers day my friend!
xoxo
vivian

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