THE BLOSSOMING OF LIVES

Sometimes we can just get too caught up in everyday life and forget to step back and review how things are going. Now that both our boys live away from home you would think I would use more of my time to think about a range of different things but, like most others, I just seem to get stuck on thinking about the same old things. This last weekend both Alex and Hugh came home for a visit, overlapping for a couple of hours but mostly we spent time with them separately. And one of the wonderful things about having a visit from an adult 'child' is that they bring a whole fresh outlook on your life and theirs. They keep you young.

(Alex....long, long ago!)


One of the first things on their lips is.... "have you got some of that cheese / bread / dip / olives / etc/ etc that I like?" Of course we have because we know they are coming and it is there just where they expect it to be even if it hasn't been there ever since their last visit. Sometimes they are only home for 5 minutes and say they have to go out soon with friends and can we open a bottle of red wine to have with the cheeses before they go?......3 hours later they are still here and have stayed for dinner and their girlfriend has come and everything is lovely. They are happy to be with us again.

At 5am on Monday Alex had to leave in a taxi for the airport and I was in the kitchen for a last minute word or two. : "It's been good to be home, Mum." he said and I know he meant it because I could see it in his face. Then he was gone...but later there was an SMS as he got on the plane.....thanks Alex, you're one hell of a son.

Hugh looked in the fridge and asked if he could take all the salad stuff home. Of course he could, and when he said he could eat all that in 2 days I went out into the garden and picked another 3 tons of all the various leaves and salad herbs I could find and gave them all to him.....he will be back next week for more, I hope the garden grows fast this week! And the most amazing thing is that Hugh thanked me for making him wash the dishes for years as a teenager, and for showing him how to cook and iron and do ordinary things that kids these days don't seem to learn from their mothers. Now he can use all the things he has hidden away in his head, to help him succeed where his peers sometimes are struggling just to look after themselves. He thanked me for just being there, for every one of those 20 years. Now that is all a mother could ever want to hear!


They both read the blog just about every day and will no doubt read this and I hope they do because no matter what amazing things they do in their lives, I want them to know that, whenever they come home, I will be there and I will give them my undivided attention for as long as they want it...or until I can't stay awake any longer!!

(Hugh, with Alex's girlfriend Jing Jing on Christmas day)

What has this to do with a seedsavers' blog? Everything. It is about giving time to living, about slowing down and seeing wonderful things like seeds germinating and watching those tiny children's hands grow into the strong and loving hands of wonderful young men. It is about sharing your bounty and caring about the earth and passing on that nurturing spirit to those around you, even when they often don't seem to be noticing, as teenagers, because it all dissolves into them and becomes a core part of them and one day it blossoms before your eyes.

I stayed home and spent my energy and enthusiasm on our children and I think it was the best investment I ever made. Even when most women were out working and couldn't understand why I wasn't too, I knew what I was doing...always the one living outside the square. They always wore second hand clothes and we drove old cars and went on camping holidays but we did it together...all of it...and it has paid off a millionfold, for all of us.

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