Fall is my favorite season, though at the end of every season I find I am ready for the changes of each new season.
I believe the influence of my great-grandmother is a big reason for this love of Fall. However it has only been in recent years I have made this connection.
My great-grandma loved — L. to the O.V.E.D — the colors of Fall.
As a child I remember her going on and on and ON about the beautiful leaves. I remember nodding and “mm-hmm”ing in well-mannered agreement when she would “ooh and awww” about the gorgeous array of Autumnal leafy goodness. But I never really appreciated it’s beauty back then.
Now, I am the one who swoons over the glorious changing colors. I take in the trees… the hues of yellows and oranges and reds. I track my favorite trees, half loving the progress as they release each leaf… half mourning the loss of their “glory”.
As I drive down roads and streets, I hear the words of my beloved Great-Grandma Sue flow from my lips to the ears of my children. I am so glad she shared her joy of this season with me.
It is a connection I will always have… another way to remember her tender, loving touch in my life. I know it was in-part an admirable effort to keep up conversation — to stay connected to her growing, pubescent great-granddaughter. In this “season” of my life I now share her appreciation. I understand that when something is so beautiful in one’s eyes… it is hard not to swoon and share your love for such beauty with those near and dear to you.
I was blessed to have had Grandma Sue in my life well into my early adulthood.
I only wish she could have met my children. She certainly would have thought they were a handful, but I know she would have found the deepest delight in them. I can almost hear her laugh… see her approving smile. I know she would have sat for hours at the edge of their beds, lightly bouncing… “rocking” them to sleep, or rubbing their noses… circling their cheeks and eyebrows with her aged, loving hands. And she would have wondered aloud about the leaves…
So. In celebration of the wonderful life Grandma Sue led… and in remembrance of a woman who truly gave her most lovely and persistent heart to her family, I want to post some images of our shared love, our shared delight — the colors of Fall…
Grandma Sue would have loved these red trees the most:
How fitting. Fall always leaves an impression… figuratively as well as literally.
