A big man who had an even bigger heart.

Last Friday, I went to a funeral for my Daddy's oldest brother, my Uncle Pete.  A man that I, along with just about everyone else he encountered, looked up to.....literally, because he was well over 6 feet tall (maybe 6'5" or so) and figuratively, because he was a man worth looking up to in so many ways.  Sadly, as the years go by, it gets harder and harder to find such men you can look up to in life.

He was the oldest of 7 boys.  7 boys who lost their mother to tuberculosis at an early age and were raised by their father, grandmother and aunts.  Uncle Pete was around 16 when she died, and he was determined that all the brothers would stay together.  That was in the 1940's and it was still a very evident trait he held dear to his death.  The closeness of family.

Our family is extremely close.  There are many of us from my father's side, scattered across different states, even different countries.  But we all come together each and every year to celebrate FAMILY.  We gather for small things like cousins camp, beach time, birthdays or anniversaries, football weekends, etc. and we gather for the big things like holidays, weddings, births, and yes, funerals. Sadly, we have had to gather more often for funerals in the past 12 months than anything else. 

I was blessed to have taken my Mom and Dad to visit Uncle Pete just days before his death.  I was blessed to have stolen a small moment of coherent time with him in his hospital bed....where he may or may not have admitted I was his favorite niece. I was blessed to watch him raise his hand ever so slightly, maybe an inch or two, to offer it when his brothers entered the room.  Shaking their hand as firm as he could and making eye contact with each, affirming his love for them without a word needing to be spoken.  I was blessed to hear him chuckle with his eyes closed, one last time over our family favorites game.  I was blessed to watch his wife, my Aunt Jenny, take care of his every need. I was blessed to bend down to kiss him goodbye and have him pull my arm when I lifted away and gently hear him say to me, "I love you".   And all those blessings came within just a couple of hours. 

 At his funeral, I was blessed to hug family a little tighter for these fleeting moments.  I was blessed to have a husband who knows full well the importance of this family he married into, and he loves them like they are his blood not just mine. I was blessed to listen to my cousins, Uncle Pete's daughters, offer amazing eulogies, standing strong before us, telling stories of their father that defined his character.  I am indeed blessed to have been given the great golden ticket of being allowed to be born into this family.  I am blessed beyond measure to have had Uncle Pete in my life. 

This month's scripture verse to memorize was chosen because of him and the man he was to all who knew him. 

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might." 

~Deuteronomy 6:5

Because if there has ever been a man who walked this earth that tried to live out that verse, it was my Uncle Pete.  He loved his parents, his wife, his brothers, his sister, his children, his grandchildren, his nieces and nephews....he loved his family and friends with the love we all crave.  And he was only able to offer that depth of love because he knew from whence it came, from the giver of all.

Yes, indeed, he was a wonderful example of a christian man, who loved his family to their very core, and loved the Lord even deeper.  He was a giant and I guess now it's clear the Lord made him that way in order to hold the big heart he gave him.  A heart that we will sorely miss here on earth, a presence that we will ache for at family gatherings.  But be certain, we would not want him back....he's having too much fun with his daddy, his mama, and his brothers in heaven. 

Instead, I'm going to try to live out that verse from Deuteronomy just as he showed us.

How does your garden grow?

So, here's the deal.  I grew up with a garden in my backyard.  My grandmother always had a garden....black eyed peas were always a favorite for picking.  And then of course my PawPaw (my favorite guy ever) had a big garden and always let me help "thump" the watermelons....(as if I knew what I was listening for when the sound arrived).

Gardening is a lost art if you ask me. 

Anyway, I decided this year I wanted to try my hand at growing my very own garden (something about getting close to 40 that makes you think long and hard about life).  I had dropped several hints about it for weeks.  Kept insisting that if gas prices was going to continue to rise and the economy was going to continue to fall....well, might as well grow us some food to feed my kids. 

Sure, everyone giggled and made snarky comments about this big idea. And just when I thought my words had fallen on deaf ears, that no one had been paying any attention to me and my plans.....I heard the familiar rumblings of a tractor outside.

My Daddy had been listening.  

So, he came and "broke" up the ground for my garden.  Then my sweet husband took me to buy seed packets and plants.  Now, I only have 6 rows in my garden but I was so excited when I made it to that seed display it was all I could do not to buy one of every packet imaginable! 

We all came home and planted my entire garden in a day. All the kids and their cousins were helping, Dad helped, T-5 helped.....it was fun. Sure it was work, but it was fun work. Good ol' get your hands dirty, sweat a little, feel like you might make a difference kind of fun work.

Again, I was so excited.  I actually had a garden.  I actually put seed in the ground (following my Daddy's careful instructions) and was hopeful it would show signs of life soon.  

And as usual, the skeptics gave their smirky smiles every time we talk about it. And the negative comments like....your garden is in a rocky patch of soil....you needed to cut those trees down, they're gonna give too much shade....you're on the one of the highest points in the county, sure your ground is gonna dry up faster.....they'll never survive, the deer will eat them....they'll never survive, the crow will eat it....they'll never survive, looks like rabbits will get them.....etc.etc.etc.  

But the jokes on them. Just look and see. 


I have zucchini.

I have butternut squash.

I have carrots.

And as my father pointed out today, I have cracks.  What?  Cracks?  That's right, I have cracks which are a sign that something else, like my okra or eggplant is about to burst through the ground any day now!!

And I have jumped for joy and already emailed several folks just this morning bragging about my rising stars from the garden.....corn and tomatoes.....there's no denying it.....I have a garden.

Now we just need to all come together and pray it survives.  You know from the heat and shade and dry rocky ground and forest critters and most importantly due to the ineptness of it's farmer. 

Because I need my garden to grow.

So I can laugh in the face of my nay-sayers when I offer them a basket of veggies from my freshly picked crop. :)