Boug

J. has been steadily working on removing a HUGE bougainvillea from the backyard. We lost it during the winter and waited patiently for any sign of it's return. Sadly, it's gone.

Our pool was planned around that plant. It's the only thing in the yard I told the pool designer I would be very sad to see go. I don't really like bougainvillea. It's prickly - hard to prune and care for because of the extensive thorns. And we had tried two other bougs that never took off - until this one. This one was glorious. Huge and flowering all the time. Just incredibly lush and beautiful with it's bright magenta flowers. Just like the boug my mom had on her patio in her town home. Low maintenance, little water and it bloomed constantly and added so much color and 'pop' to the backyard. So I wanted to be sure that plant stayed. The one boug out of several that finally, FINALLY thrived in our yard. As a reminder of my mom and how much she loved that plant. It was one of her favorites - along with nasturtiums, which we also have in our backyard.

It's down to just the trunk now. It's taken J. a series of weekends to carefully prune it back. He has been stuck through thick leather gloves so many times. And now there's just this giant bare 'hole' in our backyard landscape. The trellis is still there but the boug is gone.

We will plant another one. And another and another until one of them takes off. And next winter, when a freeze warning is issued, I'll take a sheet or two out there and cover it up. To try to avoid losing another one.
And it will make me think of my mom everyday - which I do anyway - but I'll have a daily visual reminder of her which I miss. Even though it is a prickly, sticky mess to care for. Sort of like my mom - a lovely, beautiful, fragile, prickly, sticky 'mess' at times - especially in her later years and the months preceding her death. She was a challenge - and loved beyond words. And missed, so much.

Happy Mother's Day. I miss you, Mom. We all do. I wish you could have seen our home before you died - but then again, I always felt like you had a hand in our ending up here. How everything went so perfectly. Found a builder that accepted contingent offers. Sold our condo in 3 days for more than we asked. Sold to a couple who were living with family in Fremont and didn't need us to move before our house was finished - we rented back from them for a couple months - so no apartment in between. All those amazing things that happened just perfectly to make this home a reality. I know you've 'seen' it, Mom. I just wish you could see it with me. You are never far from our thoughts and on this special day, our memories of you, along with J.'s mom are what the day is all about. For the sake of the two teens to whom I am the mom, I try hard to enjoy the day. But it's hard.

Still, it is pretty great having two teens do ANYTHING to make the day special. It was MY DAY - totally. That doesn't happen very often. And we ended up not sticking to the 'plan'. We slept in, skipped church (I know, G. - but we will be there next week since H. is being confirmed), ate out and ran some errands. And I've been working (on work stuff) in the dining room a good chunk of the afternoon and still have more to work on. I did make some progress so I feel 'good'.

Hugs and love to the two moms watching over us. We miss you very much, today and everyday.