beginning

Three of those I love best introduced me to petunias. First, my mother always grew these hardy beauties in our often-cold Idaho yard. My oldest daughter decided early on that purple petunias (bright and soft) were her favorite flowers. My father, a lover of parables and hard work, mailed me a story that praised the humble petunia: it cheerfully and gloriously blooms even in cold weather or poor soil. Not temperamental, undemanding. A petunia life is my goal right now: to make my life fertile through my own imagination, to deliberately be a beautiful soul in a beautiful world. I want to make beautiful things. I want to see the beauty in my husband and daughters and family of origin. I want to live with grace. I want to be resilient and brave and to serve well and demand little. I want to teach my children to live lives of beauty and independence.