Six Words and a $10 Tomato

 It’s done. Well, it’s mostly done. The Wink and Glo Memorial Tomato Garden (WAGMTG) is planted. The soil was prepped (oh, my, the weeds), the plants put in the ground the best I know how, and, since this photo was taken, cages assembled to support their growing branches.

The soil and sun here is so phenomenal it should offset my shortcomings as a budding gardener.

Glo is Gloria, my late aunt. She died May 1 and in the last weeks of her life when I’d tell her my struggle to garden without hurting some body part, she’d tell me how Wink, her late husband, would joke about the $10 tomato – for all the expense and effort to grow one.

Now, these two – Wink and Glo – merit more than a memorial tomato garden, but it’s a start. Growing up, I loved telling friends, heck, telling anyone, I had an uncle named Wink and an aunt named Glo.  Nicknames are big in my mother’s family. My mom is Honey and Molo. Her aunts, well, I could never keep them straight – Polls, Lolly, Pills, oh, I give up.

When I was little, Wink and Glo were fun names and fun people. They hosted many a family gathering and watched my brother and me when we were little. It’s only when I reconnected with them years later that I realized how apt their names. Wink always had a joke or story. Sometimes it was a new joke, often an old story.

And, Glo, well, she glowed with love and laughter and life. In reading up on how to write an obituary I found some guidance. It said find six words that capture a person. Words for Glo: devoted, loving, fun, solid, loyal, and fair. She was so loyal, if she felt I’d been wronged, she’d say, “Do you want me to write and tell them?”

           

I’d say no, but appreciate the offer, the loyalty, and the love.

I miss you, Glo. See you in the garden.