Remembering A Good Gift Given

© Herbert L. Vaughn (click to see larger version)

What's The Best Present You've Ever Given?

One of the best presents I ever gave to someone was a digital camera, given to my former husband and dear friend, Herbert Vaughn.  Herb is a true, true nature lover, and a fantastic gardener, and he has used his digital camera to take innumerable pictures around his yard, and around my beloved grandmother's yard.  My grandmother was also an avid gardener, former president of her garden club, and she and Herb shared a great love of flowers.  When my grandmother was a resident at Moses Cone Extended Care, Herb would go to her house and pick flowers out of her garden to bring to her, which brought my grandmother so much joy in her final years.  He would arrange the flowers in vases or in wreaths, and he would photograph other flowers.  He found a way to transfer his digital photographs into a video slide show, and set it to some of my grandmother's favorite music, which was a sheer delight to her.  I remember so many of the nurses and aides at Moses Cone Extended Care who wanted Herb to become a florist for his flower-arranging abilities, and he would even make little floral wreaths for the staff, as he visited my grandmother nearly every day at a time when I lived out of town and couldn't always get to see her.  His love and care of my grandmother even after our divorce is one of the main reasons we have remained the dearest of friends. 

On this cold, cold day, I thought I would post two lovely pictures that he took in my grandmother's yard.  Above is a pink peony, and here is a wild rose that has grown from a bush that is at least 30 years old.

© Herbert L. Vaughn (click to enlarge picture)

When I count my many blessings, I always count Herb for his love of my family, his eye for beauty, his artistic abilities, and his kind heart.  And I'm so glad I gave him that digital camera.  You'll be seeing more of his beautiful photography here from time to time.