My earliest gardening memory...

Here is a submission that I just entered into a mini online writing contest... :-)

I remember when I was about 5 or 6, and going out to my aunt's spring time garden. It was filled with so many different vegetables, flowers, and we even had some fruit. I remember following her around, asking about all the differences in all the veggie wonders that were in front of us. Why is a cucumber green? Why are tomatoes considered fruits? Are there snakes? And she gladly entertained each who, what, when, where and why question with a smile. Aside from the outdoor garden she had small potted plants all over the house. Bursts of color would spring forth from each corner of her house. It was my duty to water each of these little beings. I felt so important knowing that with each drop of water, life was being given, and maintained by each of these little plants. Many years later my aunt was diagnosed with cancer. I remember getting the call that her final moments were quickly approaching. I drove from Virginia to South Carolina to be by her side. I remember sitting next to her, holding her hand, and wishing I still had that magic watering pot. She passed on about a month after I had arrived. She was a fighter, and a gardener in the truest sense of the word. Looking back I see now we were her most precious flowers in that garden--though the tomatoes do come in at a close second place.