Eva 18x18

 My grandmother was a “yard person,” preferring flowers beds and the vegetable garden to “inside work.” After marriage at 15, she would give birth to seven children, navigate the myriad struggles involved in providing for a growing family in the depression years, see three children leave to fight in a World War, all the while celebrating marriages, births, and the ups and downs of life in post war rural America. Many of my childhood memories involve her presence, her unhurried ability to produce a rolling meal for the entire crowd, followed by pleasant Sunday/Saturday afternoons sitting in the yard under shade trees. It was in that yard I learned the meaning of community, the art of hospitality, and importance of family. There I was first exposed to the open forum, the free exchange of ideas, and spirited political debate. ...never a dull moment. So much of who and what I am is rooted in those days. Eva,...thank you for being there in that time and place...holding steady.