Like The Ones My Father Grew

It was a summer of living next to my father. He turned every ordinary day into pure laughter with his Italian antics and beautiful smile. When it came to gardening he had the magic touch. He would plant morning glories and each morning he would water them with caring hands. I would get up early just to watch him take out the hose and water the cucumbers, tomatoes, basil, parsley etc. One evening I asked him why the morning glories closed up at night, and he told me they needed to rest after a long hot summer day. He said, " If you want to catch them in the act of opening, then you have to get up very, very early." Not a day goes by that I don't think of him and the sage advice that he gave me while living next to my heart. He was my first teacher and although I didn't inherit his love of gardening, each time I see a morning glory open its face to the sun, I think of him and all the times he shared his knowledge. Until this day, I still think the best time of day is the early morning. I often take my coffee in the backyard and watch the living plants grow and thank God for having given me the best father a girl could ever ask for. The End.