Picture of Helen (301/365)

 
I opened up that old book
Photographs took me back
To your room
To your room
Pale green eyes
Strong and kind
I looked at a picture of Helen
I woke up in your room
Photographs took me back
To your room
To your room

I heard it in your voice
In a place so close

Walter Salas-Humara, “Picture of Helen”, The Silos, The One With the Bird On the Cover. Voltone Music, BMI and MCA Music, BMI, 1990

TIME:  4:18 PM
PLACE:  Front yard
SUBJECT:  Chrysanthemum 'Helen'

Every fall, I purchase some Helen garden mums.   There is a reason for that.  We purchased our home from a sweet older lady whose name was Helen.  In fact, I lived in the house next door for six years with Helen as my neighbor.  She and her husband moved into the house around 1934 when they married.  They had one daughter.  When I met her, she was in her mid-seventies and had been a widow for over 30 years.   Her daughter had moved out of state.  I loved visiting and speaking with Helen.  She would tell me stories of her life and listen to my tales of work and social life.  She was a guest at my wedding to HH.  “I wouldn’t have missed seeing you as a bride for the world, Susan.”  she said.  She also always told me that I looked like Princess Diana.  She rejoiced in my first two pregnancies and sent over casseroles to help out after DQ and MB were born.  All too soon she grew unable to manage on her own and moved in with her daughter.  We purchased the house from her and I still sometimes refer to it as “Helen’s house.”  She is still living down in Tennessee with her daughter.  The mums I plant are a tribute to her.