Sonja’s Wildflowers!
Sonja Behnke And Wildflowers
Here is the thing, my mother, Sonja Behnke Festerling, loved wildflowers. Mom could make a handful of wildflowers turn into a beautiful bouquet. So even now, as I am planning her Celebration of Life BIG BASH party, I know that I want to have vases of wildflowers that day. I hope to make them look as good as she always did.
As I have mentioned before, we have been slowly going through all of mom’s keepsakes (and boy did she keep everything) along with things my grandmother kept. We came across this scrapbook mom must have made for a school project. She got an A+, but unfortunately, the date only shows June, not the year.
Dried Wildflowers
A little beat up, the dried wildflowers are all there. Was this the beginning of Mom’s love of wildflowers? When I think back, she was always pressing flowers in books. This may be why when I would pick dandelions and clover for her, she would smile and put them in a little bud vase around the house. She loved art and would display beautiful artwork of flowers, most of which were of wildflowers.
My grandmother, Rose Behnke, must have kept Mom’s school work (as mom kept ALL of mine and my brother’s) in a box at their home in Beltsville. She took them with her when they moved to their new home in Burtonsville, MD, in 1965. When my grandmother passed in 1997, it appears these boxes ended up with mom at her home in West Friendship. Did she ever even look through everything? I do not think so.
Boxes of Memories
Mom was always so busy between helping run the nursery, traveling with her husband, mother, and friends, and enjoying her grandchildren that she always thought she would have time to sort everything out on a rainy day.
For her husband and me, it is like putting together the book of mom’s life. All the chapters that had faded from her memory, as Alzheimer’s slowly stole them from her, are being put back together. At least I know she now has all her chapters back up in heaven, and I bet she and my grandmother are enjoying watching me try to decide what to do with everything. It would have been fun to go over all of this with her.
As I sort, a little voice tells me to keep it all. Let someone else decide what to keep and what not to keep. I will listen to that voice, and after I rebox up everything (in order), I will put it all away for my children or grandchildren to look through and decide what to keep and toss. I cannot toss out things that have been held for so long.
I have learned the value of sharing family memories throughout this process. Writing down who is who in photographs and knowing that everything our parents do in life leads us to what we are today. Just think, if that young woman from Germany did not get on a particular ship heading home that Albert Behnke was on…
I suggest the Amish nurseries in Loveville, MD: Stauffer’s, Zimmerman’s, and Green Acres.
Their prices can’t be beat. Plus, the summer produce offered is fabulous. Come on summer tomatoes!
Please tell them Beth suggested you visit and let me know what you think.
While you’re down here, you should have lunch in Leonardtown and view the public art in the middle of town- murals, mosaic bench, and waterfront. You’ll love it, I promise, Beth Beighley
I will have to check them out. I actually need to start going on longer garden center trips! There are some wonderful Amish nurseries in PA also.