Papa's Letters, No. 1: Planting Seeds

Springtime always makes me think of my Papa. The fresh air and sunshine give me a sense that all is right with the world, and that's how my Papa made me feel. He's been at Home with Jesus for a few years now, but there are so many wholesome things that reminds me of him: like baking bread and planting seeds.

I was looking through a box of old letters that my Papa had written me my first year of college. That first year was certainly a struggle for me and he wrote me, even once a week for awhile, and his letters always made my day. They made my roommate's day too--I read them aloud to her because that's the only way I could make out his handwriting! His letters span the course of a couple years, and there are treasures to me still today. He always had a way of winning my friends' hearts, from the time I was a little girl, to the last of my college years.

In one of the letters, he tells me about all the vegetables and fruits he's planting for the season:

"...I got my garden all planted yesterday, I think 20 tomato plants set out, 3 pepper plants, crookneck squash, watermelon, cucumbers, and of course zucchini." (I never knew what he did with all that crookneck squash, I suppose he gave them away.)

This spring, I'm attempting to grow some flowers and vegetables from seeds-- the way my Papa taught me. I remember him showing me, a little girl, how to poke a hole in the dirt with a pencil tip, his rough hands patiently guiding mine, as we dropped a couple seeds into each hole. Then we would take the top portion of the seed packet(the strip with the seed name on it) and stick it in the dirt next to the seeds, so we could remember what we planted. Gently, we would water each seed and leave them in the greenhouse to grow in the warmth of the sunlight.

As I planted my seeds this year, (cucumbers, watermelon, tomatoes, basil, and nasturtiums,) I had Charli by my side, eating the cardboard packaging and feeling the dirt. I explained to her how to poke the wholes and drop in the seeds, although I doubt she understood much. It was special though, to think of passing on such a sweet memory to her. Someday, I'll tell her stories about her Papa-Great. I would have loved for him to have met her.