Magnolias

On December 31, 1980 my family and I loaded a U-Haul and drove it from Hermann, Missouri to Tupelo, Mississippi, our new home. We arrived shortly after midnight on New Year’s Day, 1981. My dad’s job relocated him and although that relocation turned out to be temporary, we thought we were headed to Mississippi to stay. I recall not needing a coat down there but only a jacket, even though we were in the dead of winter. One day while in the third grade our school dismissed us early because of snow flurries, the first time Tupelo had seen flurries in over ten years. Even though I was only eight years old I knew the Mississippians had over reacted. They also had a school-wide celebration of Elvis Presley’s birthday on January 8. Tupelo of course was Elvis’ birthplace and 1981 was only four years after he died.

When spring rolled around our neighborhood came alive with fragrance as the blooming Magnolia trees woke from their winter nap. Their white cream puff blooms opened up all around us and filled the neighborhood with such a wonderful aroma. Our next door neighbors had a monstrous Magnolia tree in their backyard which permanently implanted the smell of Magnolia in my memory. It was absolutely amazing.

For years after we came back to Missouri I wanted to have a Magnolia tree of my own to remind me of that brief time in my youth. When we moved into our current home I finally bought one and planted it in our front yard. Usually around the first of June it begins to bloom and it has just started to open up in the last week. As the white blooms form and then open I usually walk over to it, put my nose down to the petals, and just breathe in deeply. If I close my eyes I can time travel back 28 years and return to Tupelo.

Here are some lilies we planted a couple years ago and which are in full bloom right now.