the hammock & lilacs

In our backyard next to the alley - what a concept these days...an alley - was our hammock. Behind our hammock were the best smelling lilac bushes which were also my favorite color purple. Dark purple & light purple. The hammock should have had a name other than hammock; it played such a wonderful part of my life. It was there we would rest from our yard work & gardening, where we would sit on warm summer Sundays & watch our neighbors walk to & from church. And the guilt of... why am I not going to church?! Its where grandma & I would sit waiting for my dad to pick me up for the day. Some days we would be swinging in the hammock when Aunt Pat would stop by during her lunch break from work or Uncle Jim stopping by to visit. It was there my sweetheart proposed to me & we had some wonderful talks. I remember 3 of my small children swinging in it when we would make long trips home & the joy that brought to my heart. Just recently, my friend, LaNae told me how she loved our hammock & we actually had a conversation about it - funny how significant that hammock was. Who knew! I love the smell of lilacs, which were right there behind our hammock. Grandma would pick them in the summer & bring them into our home. On Memorial Day we would put them in mason jars to take to the cemetary & put on our loved ones graves. I love the fragrance & beauty of lilacs to this day.