Life Multiplied
When our two became one, Darrel and I multiplied exponentially. He is the second child of six, I am the third of seven. Along with their spouses, our sibling count more than doubled. We both gained an additional set of parents. For Darrel it was ‘mom’ and ‘dad Ralph’ for me it was ‘ma’ and ‘Robert.’ We became the parents of five children and four grandchildren. Nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins and extended family combined into our greatly enlarged family. Many of our individual friends became our friends. Combined incomes made for certain comforts. Our things also multiplied. We shared several common interests and were pleased with the results of our collective library of books, movies, music and art.
Most times, Darrel’s laid-back southern style mixed well with my northern creative energy. My short attention span countered his stubbornness. When we reached a stalemate, in short order I was already over it. His love of cooking worked perfectly with my not so good culinary skills. My ability to sort and stain-treat laundry ensured he no longer ruined clothes from color runs. Of course, not all was perfect in this ‘yours, mine, and ours’ madness we had created. A true balancing act, we teetered and we tottered.
One of the things that drove me bonkers back then was Darrel’s love of houseplants. He would not stop bringing plants home. He would bring in dry, dead plants found on the street. Amazingly, he nursed the plants back to health. In cooler weather, he would bring his vast collection of plants inside. This always happened while I was not home. Maybe he thought I would not notice the jungle taking over our living room. We can laugh about that now. After all these years our roles have changed. I have a newfound appreciation for houseplants. My pathos who I call ‘sweet girl’ is a happy multiplier. She hangs by our bed and greets the sunrise with me each morning. I have clipped and planted many of her babies and those of our other plants. This multitude of plant life thrives in the greenhouse Darrel set up for me in our sunny breezeway.
Darrel has become quite the urban farmer. Each year his crops get more bountiful. His compost is rich and home to fat worms. He has canned pickles from his cucumbers, and delicious sauces from his tomatoes. He dried herbs from the garden. He takes pride in sharing the harvest with others. Darrel’s newest venture is making wine from the fruit of the two apple trees that he and baby brother Ray planted. Others have inspired him to take our garden to the next level. Our neighbor Tracy shares vegetables and plants from her impressive garden. Our friends Jimmy and Bev have one of the most bountiful urban gardens that we have ever visited. We left their home looking like we had been shopping at the Farmers Market.
In this season of thankfulness, we are humbled by all that is grown, enjoyed and treasured at the May homestead. We are grateful for our continuously growing tribe of 5 children, 12 grandchildren, 7 (+ 2 on the way) great grandchildren, ‘adopted’ children, family, friends, and Marley our grand-cat. People, experiences and things have consistently come into our life as a part of our growing seasons. We learned and we adapted. We are thankful. We are blessed. God is good.
Embrace your growing season regardless of how it shows up in your life. There will be bumps and bruises along the way. Trust that the fruits of your labor will be multiplied and oh so sweet.
Darrel and Amanda 😎
BTW Did you know we also grow grandbabies in our garden? Check out our Zola bush and Eze tree :-)
