Begonias & Bygone Days

November where I live marks the official segue of seasons. Autumn’s beauty begins to fade like a gracefully aged woman stripped of her makeup.

Leaves have fallen, are falling, or hanging on for dear life. The first flurries of snow tease without sticking. The wind blusters a bit more forcefully as winter nips at its heels. Warm currents of air are ushered out by the elbow as the temperature drops.

It takes grace to live fully in the season one is in.

Rather like my begonias that are not yet be-gone-ya’s!

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My sister Cheryl bought us family women small begonia plants back in May when we gathered for a Mother’s Day lunch in celebration of us mamas, young and not so young. What made the two begonia plants I received so special was learning that they were our maternal grandmother’s favorite flower.

I never knew.

Begonias & Bygone Days

Our grandmother was only 56 when she stepped into her eternal Home and the arms of Jesus. I would have been dead three years by now at that age. It’s hard for me to imagine not living the full life I have.

As the youngest, I was not quite ten when ‘Mom’* passed away from cancer. Cheryl, the oldest, was seventeen and Jan, the middlest, was fourteen. We each knew and loved our grandmother from those vantage points of girl to teen to budding young woman. Cheryl knew about the begonias, whereas I remembered the grapes. Both abounded in her yard. Now a new love for begonias (and the perfume of grapevines) abides in my heart, if not fully in my memories.

With a forecast of temps below freezing, I took care last evening to tuck my begonia pot in the sheltered cluster of three artificial Alpine trees in the corner of our front porch. ‘Mom’s’ begonias are survivors. I took the picture this November 17th morning as testament.

Begonias & Not So Bygone Days

Both my grandmothers died before I was ten years old, yet I’ve been blessed with many other ‘begonias’ in these not so bygone days. They all are needed in order to live with grace in each season I find myself.

♥ The older ones remind me of simpler times and model blessing to be found there in today’s stress.

♥ Younger ones are like a dose of fertilizer that keeps this ‘gardener’ finding new ways to grow and bloom.

♥ Last but not least are my peers, ‘begonia buddies’ planted alongside me – for a season or many seasons.

♥ Some are family. Some are friends. Many are acquaintances. Still others are heart sisters I’ve never met.

These not so bygone days, if lived in the flower of relationship, will eventually hold some special surprises. When years have passed and these have become the bygone days, you may be presented with a lovely life ‘nugget’ you never knew. When that happens, plant and water it well – in its pot, in your heart, or both.

WELCOME TO a new feature tucked into the Leading With Your Life (Leadership Coaching) category:

Love & Legacy. Another layer to keep you warm while leading with your life.

As always, you are welcome to contact me. We can sip hot chocolate, talk about begonias, and fertilize what’s already established while prayerfully planting new seeds as part of your life of love & legacy.

~  Nancy

*My great-grandmother lived with (and outlived) my grandmother. Great-grandma was ‘Grandma’. Grandma was ‘Mom’ (apparently picked up by us girls since that’s what our mother called her). My mom was (and still is) ‘Mother’. Hey, we kept ’em straight that way! ♥