Grampa would love this

Eliza just sent me this picture and tells me that the Viyella shirt that she has on belonged to Grampa. He gave her two shirts about fifteen years ago. She has worn the red one to tatters and has this blue one remaining to remind her of her grandfather's tender hugs.

Funny, the night that Dad died, I slept with Mom at Pinecrest. I took one of his shirts out of the closet to wear. Somehow it eased the pain and was a way for me to stay cuddled up to him for a few more hours.

It is so interesting to me that of all the men that Dad was and all the roles he played, business man, volunteer, chorister, it is the images of him as outdoors man, fisherman, gardener that remain most poignantly for me. I suppose this is because he spent his long retirement and aging years in these pursuits, but it seems to me that these are also his strongest legacies for me and my daughter, perhaps all of us. He seemed to be happiest and at peace when he was out in the clean fresh air and doing the hard labour of growing and catching food for the family table.

Today I am remembering his pride at coming through the kitchen door at camp, with some produce, dirt encrusted carrots perhaps and Mom's peeved sighs, knowing that they would need to be cleaned and cooked for dinner, even if they were iddy biddy baby ones and we would only have a taste each!

A year or so before Dad died, I think the last summer he and Mom spent any time at camp, I knelt beside him, he on is little gardening stool and we weeded and talked. It was slow going, both the weeding and the talking, but moments that I will always treasure.

Would love to hear your stories about the garden too.

Elaine