The Gardener

i tried something new
an obstinant, weak candle in a lit room
chasing the darkness to spread a light
little did i know
it was i who would be blessed
refreshed and renewed
by the cool
of their Steel Magnolias
seeing You smiling back and flickering
in their silvery mirrored petals.
Your humor in Patti's sarcasm
with precision arrow timing
like Robin hood splitting that arrow
with a smirk on his face
and a soft spot in his heart.
Your beauty in Jen's spirit
as she races her kids around town
giving up gas in the tank and a little bit of herself
jingling bangle bracelets
like windchimes that remind of us summer
in the middle of the icy winter chill
and even though she doesn't always see it,
her beauty leaves us all astounded.
Your creativity in Karen's strumming fingers
and velvety honest voice
that carries us far from our living room worries
to a place of sincerity and trust
as simple and bold as a pair of cowboy boots.
Your love for us in mother Dolly
who pulls us under her wings as her own
no matter how old we are
who feeds us well, hugs often,
and smiles more than she should
to make up for the rest of us.
Your constancy in Mandi's strength
when cancer haunted not once but twice
and she went in fighting
and came out a champion
disguised as just another shopping mom
in White House Black Market.
Long after the final curtain call,
as we go our separate ways,
and that last echo of applause fades like a train whistle,
the cool of their steely strength
and the lessons that blossomed
in those fragrant Magnolia talks
basktage and in the back seat of a van
will keep growing and helping me become
the women you made me to be
and the little girls we will always be to You
our Daddy
and the tender gardner
of this little patch of Steel Magolias.


"You grow up the day you have your first real laugh - at yourself."
~Edith Barrymore

"But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble." Psalm 59:16

"Trouble is a part of life, and if you don't share it, you don't give the person who loves you a chance to love you enough."
Dinah Shore~

"Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:28-31

Share joy is double joy; shared sorrow is half sorrow." Swedish Proverb