My parents moved from a tiny
village to another area just five mile
away but it seemed like hundreds of miles to
a five year old that had always been
surrounded by Grandparents, Aunts and
Uncles.
My Maternal Grandmother had snow
white hair and wore it pulled back in a bun
at the nape of her neck. I had never seen anyone
else with hair like that so I was so happy
to see a lady in our new area with white hair
pulled back. I assumed her name was Grandma
too and with a loud voice I called out "HI
GRANDMA".
My Step-Mom came running
outside to see who I was yelling at. She saw
the lady and began apologizing for my outburst.
The Dear elderly lady laughed and with a
twinkle in her eyes, she said I am Mrs. Curfman
and she can call me Grandma
anytime.
From that day, I would
forever call her Grandma Curfman and learned
many things at her knees. She taught me all
about flowers and being kind to animals
because they all were a gift from God for our
enjoyment. She took time to listen to the
babblings of a skinny, rambunctious kid, and
made me feel important.
As Spring
burst on our Pennsylvania landscape, I noticed a
wide swath of greenery popping up in
Grandma's garden followed by a profusion of
vibrant colored tulips. There were so many
colors that I had no names for and was
taught by this gentle lady.
Every
day, I would walk two houses down to her little
green bungalow and look deep inside the
tulips and was totally awed by the vision I saw.
As Summer came on the tulips faded and
suddenly to my eyes I was treated to vivid
colored Zinnias with so many petals that looked
like little round pin
cushions.
Then I noticed a tall bush
like flower that was a hot pink and had a
most delicious scent. I found them to be my
favorite because the fragrance changed from
delicate in the morning to heady by
evening.
As I aged and started high
school my beloved Grandma fell and broke her
hip. Her son was not well and had to put her in
a home for elderly folks. I wrote to her
every couple of weeks and after I married and
moved away I continued to write at least
once a month and occasionally I stopped at
the home she resided in to visit with
her.
Grandma was always so excited to
see me and although she was blind now, she
always knew my voice immediately and she had a
small stack of my letters tied up in blue
ribbon beside her bed and she told me that
the nurses would read them to her as they
arrived.
I learned compassion, love,
kindness to human and animal life and a great
love of colorful flowers. Grandma is with
Jesus now but I recall of her longing to "Go
Home" to Him and someday I will see her
again.
I am in my
late 60's now and several years ago I saw some
hot pink flowers that looked vaguely
familiar and as I inhaled the fragrance, I
knew immediately they were like Grandma had. I
now enjoy those flowers called "PHLOX" and
every summer as they bloom, I feel closer to
a precious lady I called Grandma
Curfman.
©Ann Marie Fisher August
27,2009
  |