Lilac Hedges - Lilies of the Valley

Lilac hedges, Lilies of the Valley, that is what I pictured as my sister Peg and I reminisced about our childhood as she was recovering from ovarian cancer.

My little lilac bushes are, of course, a far cry from those beautiful hedges. We'll see how they fare in their new spot in the garden.

It was winter of 2001 when Peg was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She was immediately scheduled for surgery, and the cancer was removed. Her surgeon said the cancer was so aggressive that many doctors would just have sewn her back up and not even have tried to remove it. She was in surgery for 5 hours. Then came the chemo. She was very stressed, and I decided to quit my job and go stay with her. I was there for about 4 1/2 months.

Foot massage eased her pain, and helped her to relax, so that was one of my chores. Other than that, we mostly would sit and visit. We often would talk about memories from our childhood.
I write my own music, and Peg is one of my biggest fans. I told her that we would turn those memories into a song. It took me awhile, but the song did materialize. Perhaps one of these days I will borrow a video camera and sing it for you! In the meantime, here are the lyrics:

Lilac Hedges
copyright 2001 Mary K. Wykes
All rights reserved

Lilac hedges, lilies of the valley
Mama's in the kitchen, cooking all day
Sitting on the porch steps, counting all our pennies
Calculating riches of our old age.

Lilac hedges, lilies of the valley
Daddy's in the office working today
Sitting on the sidewalk, winding up a skate key
"Meet you at the corner. Let's race around the block."

And we sit here together, outside of time
Sit here together, with your hand in mine

Lilac hedges, lilies of the valley
Grammy's in the garden, weeding away
Sitting on the back porch, "I will be the teacher."
"If you are a good girl, I'll give you an A."

And we sit here together, outside of time
Sit here together, with your hand in mine
Sisters forever

---------------
These are some of the scenes that the scent of the lilacs brings back to me - those days long past, that can seem like yesterday.