Archive for The Gathering Place "The Gathering Place" is a web community where people can gather and make new friends, share ideas, enjoy a few laughs and learn about many interesting things together. It is a safe place where friends can correspond with each other about what they love.
Yesterday, the first Saturday in May, I had guests who were to arrive at noon. This was not unusual of course, but it was unusual in that these were folks who live in Illinois, hours north of me, and I had only met them through a chat thread on my favorite gardening site. The father and the older son were to be in a nearby area to enjoy caving at Mammoth Cave, some two hours to the east of me, so the mother and the youngest son were to visit at my house. As the date drew nearer, the woman's mother decided to come along.
Now the older woman lives in Iowa, and she is also a member of the gardening site, and she wanted to spend some time with her family who lived hours from her in northern Illinois. She also wanted to visit my gardens, and to see my antique quilt collection. It was quite a long trip for all of them, just for a weekend, and I wanted to make their visit to my house a little bit special.
I was concerned that I might not have anything special to offer them. I am not one who has expensive furniture or an ornate home, no, my furniture includes a dining room suite that came from my grandmother, a computer table that is a handmade washstand, made by a great grandfather whom I never met. An old breakfront and attached china cabinet contains the many hand made quilts that were made by my grandmothers and my mother. My daughter's bedroom suite is the one my parents gave to me for my eighteenth birthday, very nearly 50 years ago now, and my son's bed belonged to my parents. I don't even have place mats that match.
These things are all very special to me, but to others, I just didn't know. But it was all I had to offer to guests that I had never met.
I fretted over lunch, and finally decided on simple shrimp kabobs and fried green beans. I added a few fried clams, too, and prepared them early, leaving them to remain warm in the oven.
I dug into the drawer of the hutch that belonged to my grandmother, and found dresser scarves that were made of bleached muslin, probably feed sacks if the truth be known. They were embroidered in delicate flowers of pinks and blues, and lace was crocheted around the edges. They were of various sizes, and nothing matched. They even had darkened areas caused by time and use, (age spots, like my own) but I decided they would serve as place mats.
I pulled out my mother's old china plates and they did match, so that would be fine for serving lunch. Mom also had quite a collection of cranberry glass, and I found four water glasses with no chips, and two matching vases for the centerpiece.
A plan was in place.
It had rained for four days straight, and my roses and irises were beaten to the ground, but in between raindrops, I managed to find 4 rose buds, I wrapped their wet, drooping stems in a long blade from the daylily foliage, and placed them in the bud vases. I did have napkins, and found my china napkin rings, the ones with delicate pink roses given to me when I graduated from college in 1964, so fragile I was almost afraid to touch them lest they crumble in my hands.
I had lunch warming in the oven, and my grandmother's dining table was set with all my family treasures, and the roses seemed happy to be in out of the rain. My guests arrived at noon. They were charming, and even through raindrops, we walked our way through the front gardens. It had not occurred to me that these were the first blooms they had seen, but they live so far north it isn't that warm yet for them. My gardens are like my home, extensions of my soul. I have lived in this same house since 1973, and my plants are those that were given to me by family members and friends who are no longer with us. I have a climbing rose that reaches to my roof from my great grandmother's yard. It is probably my oldest plant, but only one of my many flowering treasures. My gardens have been established for many years, and my guests seemed to appreciate that. Neither of them has been in her own home for as many years, and I hope they went away with visions of what their own gardens can become. It didn't seem to matter to them that the handle of my sliding glass door was missing, and we had to fumble to get it to open and close.
After lunch and much talk about many things, we went into my bedroom where my cabinet of old quilts lives. My older visiting friend comes from a family of quilters herself, and when I pulled out the Tree of Life quilt that my grandmother had made for me, she shared that she had one as well, and very similar. Each of my quilts was shown and admired. They appreciated my ancient and sometimes threadbare treasures.
My company remained through the afternoon. The rain continued, but never dampened our spirit of friendship, and our sharing of family memories and our own similarities. I was saddened when it was time for them to leave, because they had brought with them the much needed sunshine in my day.
As it turned out, my older visitor is a minister within the Methodist church, and ministers to young children and teens. This was chosen as her lifetime career, as well as that of her husband, who is the minister of education. They have raised a family of three, and the middle daughter is the one whose family was visiting Kentucky. I didn't know all this before they arrived, but oh the conversations we had. It was such a blessed day.
As I reflect upon my day, I realize my treasures might not be of any value to others. They don't represent wealth, but they do represent love. I think my guests knew that, and as the day progressed, I hope they felt the love that flowed from every piece of old worn out china, fabric and wood I shared with them.
Life has a way of blessing us at unexpected moments. My visit with a mother, a daughter and her little 7 year old son...all of whom were new to me... was truly a blessing.
