Blackberry Memories

We’d fill our buckets to the brim-- my brother, sis, and I-- and rush the juicy berries home for Grandma’s cobbler pie, our oatmeal, or for Mama’s jam . . . sweet scenes from days gone by. Those berries came to mean much more than something good to eat. They symbolize my innocence before I was to meet the complex workings of this world. Not all of life’s a treat! Today I smile and spread my jam on lightly buttered toast. My sometimes-friend Nostalgia’s come to play the welcome host of memories of childhood days, the ones I relish most.