Celebrating My Heritage!

For Mother's Day, my sweet Auntie Marti sent me some violets. They did not arrive in a vase via a delivery company; instead, they were sent overnight via USPS and were wrapped in wet papertowels and a freezer baggie. These aren't just any violets, however. They are part of my heritage....

Along with the violets was a sweet note, accompanied by a piece of paper with old photographs. This is what part of the note said....

"The pictures enclosed are of your Great Great Grandmother's house and your Great Grandmother's house where your Grandmother Inglis (my dad's mom) was rasied. Both homes still exist in Sacramento California...... One of the great joys and traditions that was passed from mother to daughter in your family was the love of flowers and plants. These violets that I am sending you came from your Great Great Grandmother's home on 2nd Ave. They were given by her, to her daughter (my Great Grandmother) and lovingly planted in her yard on McKinley Blvd. Your Grandmother Inglis loved them so much that when she grew up and had homes of her own, she transplanted them from her mother's home into her own homes in Sacramento. She shared them with me and now they are blooming each spring in my garden as well. They bring me so much enjoyment that I wanted to share them with you."

My Great Great Grandmother's Home

Great Grandma Hyacinth Margaret and her mother, my Great Great Grandma Margaret Mary. Circa 1950. Love the white shoes, so sassy!

My Aunt sent me "flowers" that are over 100 years old, essentially. Amazing.

I planted them and I wasn't sure if they were going to make it. You can see them below with my tomato plants, the violets are in the pot without the cage. They struggled initially but I think they are going to hang in there. Aunt Marti assured me that if they didn't make it, she could send me more. I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard that.

Whenever I see those violets, I am reminded of my heritage and the legacy that has gone before me. I am responsible for creating my own legacy now, one for my daughter and her daughters.

It is so easy to get caught up in the now; not taking time to do things that invest in the future or in eternity. I bet that as my Great Great Grandmother planted her beloved violets, she had NO clue that they were destined to end up in my garden. Or rather my pot. :) (Hoping that the gardening genes will kick into effect anytime now....still don't know what the heck I am doing!!)

I want to "plant" something for my Great Great Grandchildren and beyond to reap. Not literally a plant, unless that green thumb miraculously hits me. But start sowing a life rich with virtue and traits worth inheriting. Start paving a path of prayer and intercession for my daughter and her future children and their children.

This way of thinking WILL inevitably change me. And only for the good. Every single night (here come the tears, darn it!!!!) I go into my sweet little girls room and stare into her precious sleeping face and think, "how on earth did I get so lucky to have her???".

It makes me want to start "planting". :)

What are you "planting" for your future legacy? :)

"Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God."

Titus 2:4-5