So why the title Gardens and Grandparents? Well, I guess it’s because those are two things that bring me a great deal of comfort in a not-so-comforting world – watching my garden grow and remembering the generation whose homes I grew up in. Known as the Greatest Generation, their’s was a world before the internet, cell phones, social media, virtual reality, self-driving cars, streaming television, DNA ancestry profiles, ride sharing, keto diets, vaping, and a myriad of other things that would have probably confused the bejesus out of them. After all, they didn’t need the internet to tell them what the weather was going to be. They could smell the rain coming and could recognize “snow clouds” when they saw them. When they wanted to get fancy they would refer to the the Farmer’s Almanac, (which by the way I started using this year and have found to be extremely helpful in all things garden related). Cell phones would have seemed silly to my grandparents. If they were expecting a call they would have gone home and waited for it. Social media was reading the newspaper while sitting at the bingo hall or beer garden waiting on the next round to begin. They knew who their ancestors were because their names were written in the family bible. And the family’s stories were told to them by their parents and grandparents. The stories were told to them. What a novel idea, pun intended.

In times like these, when so much is uncertain, I cherish those memories of my grandparents and the simple day-to-day things that children take for granted, but never forget. Like the smell of the house when grandma was baking bread, or seeing my grandpa, whose nickname was “Ching”, sitting on the front stoop (he always referred to it as a stoop, never a porch) reading the paper and drinking his coffee after he finished mowing the lawn. A perfectly mowed lawn, I might add. A lawn that he was quite proud of and also quite diligent in reminding you to stay off of. At least on the first day when all the lines were still perfect. The first day was reserved for admiration.

The world is far from what it was in their day. Answers to any question fathomable can be found instantly just by Googling it. I can hear my grandpa now laughing so hard at the word “google” that he starts wheezing. He had a hell of an infectious laugh. If something struck him as funny or peculiar he would say “Now that’s a winner!” He loved slapstick comedy. He would laugh so hard over an episode of ‘The Three Stooges’ that he’d practically crack a rib. “Googling” would have been a real winner in his book.

Ching was a real winner when it came to his garden. It was perfect. Neat rows of tomatoes and corn – even sunflowers all spaced out and properly cultivated. Not a weed to be found. It wasn’t a big garden, from what I remember. Maybe just a 12’ x 12’ patch out by the shed. But it was pretty as a picture and he was as protective over it as he was his front lawn. It was meant for admiring as much as it was for harvesting.

I think the difference between their world and our world of today is the waning sense of pride folks take in a job well done. Things like gardens take a lot of time and hard work. You can Google the definition of work, you can look up thousands of tips and how-to’s and this’s and that’s, but you can’t experience the pride and joy of laboring with your hands to grow that garden unless you get in there and get dirty! A seed grown into a tomato plant that gives you a slicer for your burger is one of the best lessons you can learn in perseverance.

Not everything is meant to be instantaneous. The best things take time, hard work and love to grow into something special. To grow into something worthy of admiration.