The Giving Lilac (Tree)
This photograph of my children was taken in 2001, so it is not old nor an “heirloom” in the traditional sense. However, the memories it inspires are treasures none the less. The photographer was a young woman (Kari Lanie McCluskey), working in black and white film using a hand tinted technique. No idea how that’s done to be honest, but I wanted to showcase my mother’s knitting and so I paid more to have the work hand colored.
The cream sweater my oldest son is wearing is one my mother knit for me back in 1980. The yarn was purchased on a trip to Greece that year. Most memorable to me was that my birthday arrived while we were visiting Mikonos – where the labyrinth story originated. No one seemed to recall it was my birthday – with traveling and time changes I think dates got away from my parents. That afternoon I left a large tip for the old woman who was monitoring the rest facility at the site (a situation I found a bit odd, but was common throughout Greece at that time). She was immensely happy which I felt was a lovely gift to myself. As I exited and rejoined my parents, it was clear from their faces that they realized their forgetfulness, and a celebration of my 18th ensued, though I don’t recall the details. The old woman and her gift from me will remain a treasured memory recalled whenever I see this Greek fisherman’s sweater – now ridiculously too small for me.
My mom also made the complex snowflake sweater my daughter is wearing. I believe there was a hat to go with – though my young daughter was seriously not into hats. The sweater was a bit too itchy for her as well. Unfortunately, she had (and still does) a textural sensitivity. To be fair, wool sweaters can annoy the most non-texturally sensitive person, and it was unfortunate my mother loved to knit in fine wool yarn.
When mom sent me the sweater for my daughter, I realized I needed a third sweater for my middle child, and I requested a blue one. Not to worry, she had plenty of yarn, and I recall she whipped up this one for my son in record time. I still have all three sweaters stored in her old cedar chest.
The photographer I hired in 2001 was loth to come to our property for the photo shoot – assuming, I think, that we had a typical subdivision property. However, our property is unusual, and full of wonderful old trees and structures. The tree the 3 children are around in the photograph is actually a very old lilac bush.
As my daughter was still a little girl at the time, she could not keep up with her active brothers as they climbed the huge old willow or towering pines on our property. So, she would “climb” this lilac and was very proud of herself. Sadly, the lilac was a bit under the weather (probably over 100 years old). One day, well after the photo session, while she and a girlfriend climbed, it simply leaned itself right out of the ground. The girls were not hurt, found the whole experience entertaining, but the poor lilac had given its last moments of joy. The photograph, however, always brings me joy when I see it.