Memorial Day
Sunday, May. 29, 2005, 8:03 AM

I tend to agree with Denis Leary on the subject of happiness. It comes in small doses.

So far, this weekend is providing me with many of those small doses.

Getting to spend a Saturday with Spouse.

Shopping at my favorite store, and finding a veritable farmer's market of fresh fruits, vegetables, baked goods, and flowers. Deep red, ripe strawberries, sweet and fragrant. Pink Lady apples, bright and crisp and tart. Mouth-watering watermelon and cantaloupe, fresh asparagus and sweet, crisp corn ready for the steamer, sunny yellow lemons that make you crave fresh-brewed iced tea.

Pots of geraniums, flats of impatiens, bright and happy, that give peace twice. Once when you buy them, and imagine the tranquility of planting them in the soil around your house. And again when you have the pleasure of actually doing so, and even the crick in your back and the sweat trickling into your eyes give a sense of satisfaction.

Hamburgers cooked over charcoal, with a slice of sweet Vidalia onion to work its piquant magic. That first bite of crisp, sweet corn, as the butter dribbles down your chin.

A pretty, late Spring morning for walking through the neighborhood with Raji. Smelling the flowers and the freshly-cut lawns. Watching the rabbits and the robins. Enjoying the feeling of well-being that comes with getting your circulation going with a good walk.

Coming home and filling the house with the marvelous aroma of freshly ground Kona. Sitting down at my computer and writing an entry for my diary, a large mug of Hawaiian heaven by my side.

These are the small moments of contentment and happiness that keep me going. Tranquil little islands of sanity in the churning seas of my hectic life. I�m grateful for them, and I�m grateful for my Grandma Helen, who showed me how to watch for them, and stop for a moment to appreciate and savor them. And that sometimes, you could even grow them yourself.

She passed away in May of 1987, and May is when I miss her the most. Everything is blooming and that was what Grandma was all about. She was the queen of the gardens, and grew an unbelievable array of flowers, fruits, and vegetables.

So every sweet red strawberry or crisp stalk of asparagus, every lilac bush or peony blossom brings her instantly to mind. But those moments, too, are little pieces of happiness, because I love being reminded of her, and I never want to forget her, or the lessons she taught me about enjoying the world.

I�ll never be the gardener she was, so I have no mason jar filled with lilac, peony, and iris to place on her grave, as she placed on so many graves, on so many Memorial Days.

So this is my bouquet, in remembrance on this Memorial Day weekend, of a wonderful, special, and loving grandmother, who taught me how to live.

I love you, Grandma.