Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Pretty in Pink Memories

A long long time ago....
Each spring when my pink lily of the valley pips finally grace me with their lovely presence, I'm always transported back in time. Many many moons ago, really too many for me to want to count anymore, my now-grown up son was a little boy who lived and breathed baseball. I cannot tell you the number of games we attended from the time he was in kindergarten and on through college. I also know (knew - it's all fading) more about baseball than I EVER thought possible for my brain to absorb.
What a wonderful time it was to follow this little boy whose life was the baseball field. It was also quite boring at times, especially in those earliest years when cluelessness on the field usually reigned supreme for most of the players. (Do yourself a huge favor and go read Cathy's (creator of Noble Pig) hilarious story of her young son's recent baseball exploits. You'll immediately begin to understand what I mean. Wonderful and boring all rolled up into one. Whoda thunk!)
While I'm willing to bet that GB3's dad (GB) never missed a game his son played in (and was never ever bored) from the very beginning...me...not so much. It wasn't that I didn't want to be there, it was just so hard to be there.
And so, one of those long ago days, I found myself at a new field that was surrounded by woods. My GB3 was on the bench, and of course I was antsy, so I decided to take a walk (no not for exercise, just a hopefully amusing little walk!). There was a path that went into the woods, so I followed it and came upon a large clump of what looked like lily of the valley. The fact that they were not a wild flower and were growing in the middle of nowhere, I had to bend down to get a better look just to be sure I wasn't hallucinating, because they also looked...pink!

They were pink! Pink lily of the valley! I'd never heard of that and I had to have some! (What ballgame??) Went back to the car, got GB3's extra batting helmet and dug a clump out to take home. That was at least 16 years ago and those sweet pink memory-inducing flowers have been blooming here at our home ever since. By the way, GB3 never used that batting helmut again...I wonder why.

~~~

xoabb


Almost forgot to tell you: The first "Do you know me?" flower in yesterday's post was, indeed a carnation as many of you guessed. That second green "Do you know me?" flower was a rose! Just as pink lilies of the valley are unusual, those green roses are too, at least to me!

9 comments:

  1. Annie, where are those? I love them. Can I have some? Pretty please? You can have the ducks back.

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  2. Very pretty and loved that you transported the pips in the helmet!

    My grandmonther's house had lily of the valley by the back door. I always wanted some and have never been able to get them going, but at my current house, there they were growing, right outside by back door. Mine are white, though...I will have to try and find some pink!

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  3. I've never seen pink Lily of the Valley! How beautiful! It took me years to finally get some normal white ones growing....I kept getting them from people and they would die. I love your story....I had a daughter in softball and was bored silly at her games (she was a terrible player) Digging up the flowers with a helmet was fast thinking!

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  4. Well, that is new. My mother always loved them. We had hoards of white but never pink. How lucky.

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  5. You know what? I loved this story!

    My sons weren't into baseball, but one of my dear friends' sons were. Her youngest is graduating from our school this year and she's spent countless days just as you did, ever since her boys were very little.

    I went to his last home game and took some awesome photos of him and tok them to her on Mother's Day. She actually cried and gave me a big hug. It's why I love this story.

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  6. Exquisite ... I never saw pink lily of the valley either and you'd think, okay, I'd have thought that with all the Greenmarket flower people here that I would have .. now of course I will go looking for them and ask for them because I dont have anywhere to plant my own .. or I would be begging louder than LaLa..

    :-Daryl

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  7. Lily of the valley are one of my favorite flowers I love the smell. I have never seen pink ones before. I'm sure they are beautiful in your yard..lucky lady :)

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  8. You are so sweet. It seems as if we all have those crazy babeball memories and they must forever be branded on the heart.

    I'm glad I am no alone!

    Beautiful Lily, I've never seen one like that.

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  9. You have so many stunning flower images here. thanks for sharing.. and have a beautiful week.

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Thank you for taking the time to leave a thought. It's appreciated! xoabb