Monday, April 9, 2012

A - Z Challenge: H

H is for Hero

Me and my Dad

There is a time each spring when I think of my first hero: my Dad.  He was my only hero until I was about 10 and he was replaced by Elvis Presley.  Somehow, even though my musical heroes changed over the years, Dad never regained his original status.  Maybe I stopped needing a hero.  Or maybe we were too much alike in our independence and pushed each other away.  I don't know the exact reasons but I do know it happened.


He's been gone for almost eight years but I have him very close by in the garden when the primroses from his garden bloom in ours.  They have multiplied well from the few original plants that I brought when he moved from Victoria to be closer to us.  What I think is so wonderful is the chain of history for my generation of  primroses.

They came from a former neighbor's garden - Dad liked them and planted them in his.  When he moved house a few plants came with him to a new garden where they again grew and prospered.  Then, because I loved them,  a  few of them came to live with us while the rest remained behind and got on with their business.  And just like families, there is a whole wealth of stories of the plants before our generation knew them.  My hero had stories, too.  I never heard them all.


10 comments:

Empty Nester said...

I'm assuming that is you with your dad in the first picture? What a cutie! My dad is still my hero. And my oldest younger brother. And a friend that I went to college with. I guess I still need heroes here and there. Or maybe I just like knowing that they're there should the need arise. So much for women's lib. LOL

Rudee said...

Hmm...yes, I hear you. Father/daughter relationships can be very complicated and unlike your flowers that seem to grow with abandon, these relationships take a lot more tending.

I love that picture of you with your father. It's very sweet.

Susan Kane said...

Such a tender post. I feel the longing and regret over the stories never heard.

Ruth said...

That is nice that you have a piece of your dad in your garden.

welcome to me

yummy stuff

Joanna said...

That's a sweet connection with your dad.

Tanna said...

I can relate to the shift from hero to something much more distant... my dad has been gone for six years... we never really reconciled the spaces that grew between us. I'm glad you can treasure your dad's primroses. There is something very special in the passing along of those favorites. Love the photo of the two of you.

Patricia Stoltey said...

Heroes are so important in our lives. Mine have also changed over the years...at the moment it's Tina Turner.

As for fathers, I wish I had asked my dad more questions about his childhood. There's so much I don't know, and now it's too late to ask.

SueH said...

I wish my Dad was still here - my daughter can barely remember him; my son, not at all.

What a lovely idea, keeping the primroses going as a link to your father.

I realised the other day, I have nothing of my Dad except memories and old photos....and the wedding ring he gave my mother.

Cindy said...

I love your primrose story, daughter's are daddy's favourite then they grow up and move apart. I don't think primrose would survive our weather, I'm not kind to bring plants inside and out. nice post

Ellen Brickley said...

This is a lovely post. I lost my dad seven years ago, when I was 21, and there's so much I never asked him, so many stories he never told. I miss him every day, but it's nice to remember the good times.

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