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    A Bouquet for Grandmother: An Arrangement of Stories, Meditations, and Biblical Inspirations
    A Bouquet for Grandmother: An Arrangement of Stories, Meditations, and Biblical Inspirations
    A Bouquet for Grandmother: An Arrangement of Stories, Meditations, and Biblical Inspirations
    Ebook124 pages1 hour

    A Bouquet for Grandmother: An Arrangement of Stories, Meditations, and Biblical Inspirations

    By Susan B Townsend

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    About this ebook

    In A Bouquet for Grandmother, you’ll find a blossoming of stories, scripture, and meditations on the true blessing that is every grandmother.

    Honeysuckle for the affection she lavishes...

    Orange Blossom for the wisdom she shares...

    A Dandelion for the wishes she makes come true...

    A grandmother’s love is as fresh as a daisy, as lovely as a rose, as eternal as a lily. In A Bouquet for Grandmother, you’ll find a blossoming of stories, scripture, and meditations on the true blessing that is every grandmother.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster
    Release dateAug 1, 2007
    ISBN9781440516580
    A Bouquet for Grandmother: An Arrangement of Stories, Meditations, and Biblical Inspirations
    Author

    Susan B Townsend

    An Adams Media author.

    Read more from Susan B Townsend

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      Book preview

      A Bouquet for Grandmother - Susan B Townsend

      A

      BOUQUET

      FOR

      GRANDMOTHER

      9781598691504_0002_001

      An Arrangement of Stories,

      Meditations, and Biblical Inspirations

      SUSAN B. TOWNSEND

      9781598691504_0002_002

      Avon, Massachusetts

      Copyright © 2007 Simon and Schuster.

      All rights reserved.

      This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form

      without permission from the publisher; exceptions are made

      for brief excerpts used in published reviews.

      Published by Adams Media, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

      57 Littlefield Street

      Avon, MA 02322

      www.adamsmedia.com

      ISBN-10: 1-59869-150-3

      ISBN-13: 978-1-59869-150-4

      eISBN: 9781598691504

      Printed in the United States of America.

      J I H G F E D C B A

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      A bouquet for grandmother / [compiled by] Susan B. Townsend.

      p. cm.

      ISBN-13: 978-1-59869-150-4 (pbk.)

      ISBN-10: 1-59869-150-3 (pbk.)

      eISBN 9781598691504

      1.  Grandmothers—Anecdotes. 2.  Grandmothers—Quotations.

      I. Townsend, Susan

      HQ759.9.B685 2007

      306.874’5—dc22    2007015784

      This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional advice. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.

      —From a Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations

      Interior photos © 2005 Brand X Pictures and © 1996, 1999 PhotoDisc.

      This book is available at quantity discounts for bulk purchases.

      For information, please call 1-800-289-0963.

      Dedication

      In loving memory of my grandmother

      Maidie Christina Armstrong.

      1898–1986

      Acknowledgments

      My heartfelt thanks go to:

      The people at Adams Media for giving me this wonderful opportunity.

      My editor, Paula Munier, for being smart, funny, and beautiful.

      My Aunt Helen for indulging my passion for stories.

      My brothers and sisters at Sussex Baptist Church for their love, friendship, and unwavering loyalty.

      Zella, Jeanie, Gabriel, Rosalie, Steve, Krys, Brandy, Jenny, Wayne, Peggy, and LaRose for allowing me to share their amazing grandmothers with the world.

      My children, Gabriel, Emily, Dylan, Connor, and Owen, for making everything worthwhile.

      My darling Thomas E. In a world where nothing is perfect, you are perfect for me.

      To God. All glory and honor is Yours.

      Grateful acknowledgments are made to the following for the permission to use their material:

      Zella Spiers for Vivid Images of a Summer Visit (first appeared in The Goochland Gazette, summer 1993) and Grandchildren Spark Memories of Summers Long Ago (first appeared in The Goochland Gazette, late spring 1994).

      Jeanie Kezo for My Babcia.

      Gabriel Ricard for In a Perfect World.

      Rosalie Franklin for In My Nana’s World.

      Steven Sharp for My Grandmother—My Teacher.

      Krys Douglas for The Legacy.

      Brandy Blythe for Learning to Say Goodbye.

      Jennifer Blythe for Remembering Granny.

      LaRose Karr for The Roses.

      Wayne Scheer for Communicating Love.

      Peggy Duffy for My One and Only Grandmother.

      Contents

      Preface

      Chapter One: A Camellia for Admiration

      Chapter Two: A Dandelion for Happiness and Wishes Come True

      Chapter Three: A Honeysuckle for Generous and Devoted Affection

      Chapter Four: A Myrtle for Love in Absence

      Chapter Five: An Orange Blossom for Wisdom

      Chapter Six: A Scarlet Zinnia for Faithfulness

      Chapter Seven: A Gladiolus for Love at First Sight

      Chapter Eight: A Forget-Me-Not for Enduring Memories

      Epilogue

      Preface

      The Language of Flowers

      Today’s world contains no shortage of ways to communicate. We can send an e-mail across the globe in seconds and receive a response only moments later. Cell phones have become an essential accessory and people using them are a common sight in all but a few places.

      Despite these sophisticated advances in communication technology, perhaps the most effective means of conveying our thoughts and feelings remain the most simple. A heartfelt note, the touch of a hand, or even a brilliant smile speaks volumes and carries meaningful messages long remembered.

      Flowers have long been used to communicate a multitude of messages. We use flowers to congratulate, console, and commiserate. A bouquet can express feelings ranging from fond friendship to romantic love. Flowers have always had a language of their own, but it was during the reign of Queen Victoria that each bloom was given a unique meaning. The rose, once simply a symbol for romance, now carried a multitude of meanings with each color and variety possessing its own significance.

      Using this unique and lovely language, we have created a special bouquet for a very special lady—Grandmother. With remarkable qualities in abundance, selecting only eight flowers for her bouquet proved to be no easy task. We could gather a garden of blossoms for this extraordinary lady and still be left searching for a way to tell her how much she means to us.

      Chapter One

      A Camellia for Admiration

      Early western travelers to China and Japan fell in love with the exotic camellia, but their first attempts to cultivate this impressive beauty failed. Worried about the camellia’s ability to adapt to a colder climate, enthusiasts pampered the plants in greenhouses. They didn’t realize that, like our beloved grandmothers, these shrubs were not only beautiful but also vigorous and strong.

      Gardeners have long admired the camellia for its hardiness, for its glossy evergreen leaves, and for the spectacular blossoms that can appear from late winter to early spring, announcing the long-awaited end to the drabness of winter. And so we admire our grandmothers for the color, strength, and beauty they bring to our lives.

      Admiration

      When we were young, we thought our grandmothers were amazing. A grandmother was, from our adoring perspective, a magician, capable of performing marvelous feats, a seer with the ability to answer our most difficult questions, and someone who made us feel like the most important person in the world. Long after we could make our own peanut butter and jam sandwiches, we longed for the ones she made. The four perfect triangles she served on our favorite plate were infinitely preferable to the oozing, slightly flattened concoction we came up with. And long after we could read, we begged our grandmothers for stories. They told us astonishing and true tales of long ago when our mother or father was a child—a concept we could scarcely imagine.

      As the years passed, we learned things about our grandmothers that strengthened our deep admiration, but these discoveries only served to confirm what we realized at a very young age. No one ever had to tell us that Grandma was an extraordinary woman. We knew it, just as we knew that she loved us. And

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