Mother's Dream Came True
Written by Loraite (Rossman) Teays

March 1992

    Although our mother had lots of work to do, she always found time to do "special" things- to make our lives more pleasant. She loved flowers and had all kinds of small flowerbeds, in our backyard. Some were cosmos, marigolds, asters, zinnias, Cal. Poppies, verbenas, moss rose, peonies, etc. We had one large pale pink rose bush near a sitting room window that always blossomed fully. We also had a huge yellow rose bush on the south side of the house. It was always in full blossom at graduation time, in June.

     She had a small "fenced-in" flower garden where she had lovely perennials, including a red monthly rose bush. The roses were about one and half inches in diameter but blossomed fully, every month. She had a very large castor-oil plant. The beans that were planted-to grow the bush, came from Florida. She also had a very large oleander bush, from Florida. It was grown in a large park and kept on our "closed in" porch. It always had many lovely, light pink flowers on it. She got that one in Florida when she visited our brother.  Mother had too many houseplants, to mention. One that I "recall" was a Christmas cactus. It was always in full bloom, at Christmas time. Oh yes, she also had a beautiful Boston fern plant. It was one of my "favorites". After I was married she started one for me. I had it for many years and enjoyed it so much. One summer when I was about twelve years old, mother asked me to help her "beautify" the back yard even more. I was in "charge" and the younger children helped me haul rocks (about cantaloupe size) from the stone-pile behind the barns. We used Abe's little red wagon and we made many trips, to the stone pile and back. Mother and I outlined each flowerbed with the stones. It was my job to "white wash" every stone. I did that by dipping the stone in a pail of lime and water and returned them to the ground, to dry. When finished we had a lawn pretty enough to be featured in "Home and Gardens." Everyone enjoyed it so much!

     Mother had a "dream" for several years-how to beautify the "area" where our many lilac bushes and grapevines grew. Dad said it was O.K., to do it- but he and the boys were too busy on the farm to do the work. It was in the early thirties and there were many men in the city, out of work. Auntie Maude, from Detroit, told mother about Jack Rush, a neighbor of hers who had built an "outdoor fish pond" for her. He was glad to do the work for room and board.

     Mother contacted him and he was very happy to come to the farm, for a few weeks and do “whatever” she wanted. Well, first, he built a lovely fishpond, in an open space, among the lilacs. Water was piped to it from our well and "bubbled up" in the middle of the six feet wide round pool. It was about two feet deep. The pond was constructed with cement and stones. When it was finished we put some gold fish in it and gathered some water lilies, from our pond, near the woods. It was a beautiful sight. In the winter, we transferred the fish to the horse's water tank.

     Next, mother had Jack build little "paths" all through the lilac bushes. They were covered with pea size gravel, for easy walking. He also built small benches, to sit on, so we could dream and rest in all this beauty. It was a lovely place to "daydream" on a warm day, in the shade of the lilacs. Several birdhouses were "erected" also. I remember we had a very tall martin birdhouse, on a pole, close to the lilacs, with many compartments. It was fun, to watch the birds "coming and going". Finally, everything was completed. Jack had done such a beautiful job, that dad paid him a little money, even though he had been "happy" to do it for the "room and board". Jack was a bachelor and reluctantly went back to the city. He had become" attached" to all of us children and we liked him also.

     Mother's dream had finally come true. All of our family enjoyed that area and used it, very much, in suitable weather. It became a lovely place to entertain our "special" girl friends and boyfriends, in the years to come.

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