Making heart memories through a fairy garden.

Fairy Gardens

“Sometimes the briefest moments capture us, force us to take them in, and demand that we live the rest of our lives in reference to them.”    Lucy Grealy

My granddaughters have chosen to fill our fairy garden with delicate seashells, colored chunks of resin, step on grasses, and many fairies.  They rearrange the furniture and make new gifts for the fairies.  They may choose to leave a note or even give the fairies one of their precious drawings.  They live in anticipation of whether this will be the day the fairies drops a treasure in their “make do” gift holder.

When they arrive at the the front door, I hear, " Hi, Mimi" and then they run out the back door to check the fairy garden. They look in the empty gift box and seem a little disappointed, but then Ava announces, “Fairies don’t leave gifts every day.” 

“Look at me, Mimi, look at me,” calls Ellis, who is five. She climbs the fairy tree and looks down upon the treasured garden with miniature table and chairs, frogs, turtles, and fairies.  “I’m like God looking down at us.”  We all giggle at her observation.

“Mimi, I made a fairy garden at my house!” Ellis is so excited about her creation.  She asks for a few more seashells for her garden.  Those of you that follow me know that I have brought a ton of shells back from the ocean.  So, I have plenty to share.

I learn from the girls to expect but not be disappointed if this wasn’t the day to find fairy prizes. On those days, we sit together on the glider by the fairy garden and talk of beauty, flowers, cloud formations, and what kind of bird is on the nearby feeder.  I hope to create heart pictures within these precious girls.  I hope these fairy lessons may be the bridge to faith lessons.  The girls learn blessings come unexpected and in God's timing.  Perhaps these talks will create gratitude for all God’s creations.  Someday the scenes of today will be their  heart memories forever. Ellis has learned the joy of creating her own garden.  Ava has been moved to makeup new stories to add to our ongoing fairy sagas.  This is our little Garden of Eden for enjoying, learning, creating, and talking to each other.