by Connie Brisson

My Mom has been gone for one year now. And it’s taken a year for the loss of her to really sink into me, into my bones, into my everyday life.

Yesterday I opened a bag of store bought peas and as I began to shell and eat them, I instantly thought of being in my Mom’s garden.

My Mom always had great, big, abundant gardens full of vegetables and flowers. She spent hours every day out there. She loved her gardens.

Each summer when I would visit her, I would go out to her garden, at least once, and just eat her fresh peas to my heart’s content. There would be pea shells carelessly flying everywhere as I enjoyed the contents of each one. It was a ritual for me. And when I would leave, she would always have a box of her fresh vegetables for me to take.

Last year Mom was in the old age home and that was the first year that she didn’t have a garden. It was apparent, by her dramatic weight loss and her frail body, that she would be leaving us soon and she died on July 20, 2008.

And as I was standing by my sink, shelling and eating my store bought peas, I started to cry. I missed her so much. I wished that I could go to her garden and see her just one last time.

Suddenly I realized how important that inconspicuous memory of her garden and eating her peas was to me – and yet, it had been such an ordinary moment.

And then it hit me that there are NO ordinary moments – all moments are so precious. When I was eating her peas, I never thought it was a special moment or that I would ever remember it. It was just so ordinary. And yet here I was, missing that ordinary, or should I say extraordinary moment, because it was a link to her.

There's something very bountiful and powerful about a mother's garden. I am part of my Mom’s garden and my daughter is part of my garden. Gabrielle is one of the most magnificent parts of my garden and I am so thankful she’s part of my life. As I watch her growing up, I realize that what we grow in our lives is so much bigger than us.

Mosaic is also a part of my garden. For many years I worked at jobs that didn’t feed my soul. I always felt I was in the wrong place; that I was meant to accomplish something more. When Mosaic came along, I knew it was part of my purpose.

Now my ‘work’ has meaning. Each issue I put so much time and love into every aspect of Mosaic: the articles, artwork, layout, ads, ezines, website. I put my heart and soul into this garden that you get to see each issue.

And what I truly wish is that there will be something really nourishing for you in each issue – a story that will change you, help you, ‘grow’ you. As you read this magazine, I hope you’ll enjoy some delicious moments that feed your soul and that you find a few new seeds you can plant into your garden.

In this issue, we have a great interview with Dr. Steven Farmer about everything from animal spirit guides to power animals and drumming to DNA. In fact, we talked about so many different things that we couldn’t possibly fit it all in the magazine so please go to www.iLoveMosaicMagazine.com and click on the ‘Interviews’ tab to hear or read the complete interview.

We’ve got some amazing prizes to give away when you post a comment about what you love about Mosaic on our website under the ‘Let’s Hear From You’ tab. Prizes include free tickets to: Dr. Steven Farmer’s upcoming workshops, Deva Premal and Miten’s concert in Calgary and Michael Bernard Beckwith’s talk in Edmonton or Calgary. If you love to win, sign up for our bi-monthly ezine (at our website) and you’ll be the first to know about great prizes as they continue to come up.

And for those of you who love a little pasta and want to talk about the Law of Attraction, our next Mosaic Book Club Dinner will be on Tuesday, August 18th at Sorrentino’s Little Italy restaurant at 6:00 p.m. Email me if you can come. I’ll see you there!

Connie