BENTON COUNTY — The delightful days of May are hurrying by and summer will be here in only a few weeks. We’re enjoying a lovely spring.

The catalpa tree behind the house is covered in blooms and blossoms are also dropping from the big persimmon beside the mower shed. We’re getting a few ripe strawberries and several tomatoes are blooming. Daylilies have opened on top of the cellar. New solar lanterns we bought for the fish pond illuminate the water at night.

The first half of the month has been busy. Trips to the farmers’ market have yielded delicious broccoli, greens for salads, ripe strawberries, Swiss chard and crisp radishes.

My sisters and I met with a lawyer and started the process of probating Mama’s estate. The next day I attended the funeral of beloved nurse Francis Meade. I’ve enjoyed lunch at the Senior Center a couple of times, taking along friends from Sulphur last Thursday. Joe and the grandkids visited last Saturday and Joe helped Jim put up a new TV antenna while Alyssa and Matthew assisted me in watching our brushpile burn.

We’ve been plagued with car trouble for over a month. Traveling only a short distance caused theengine to overheat and we’d be forced to stop, add water and allow the engine to cool off. We had a new water pump and thermostat put on and, still, that didn’t solve our problem. Consequently, I was pleased when a bank employee tipped me off last Thursday about a vehicle they had for sale. Jim and I looked it over that evening and submitted a bid the next morning. We were notified Friday afternoon that we’d submitted the winning bid, so we’re now the new owners of a plum PT cruiser.

Sunday was Mother’s Day, the first since our dear mother died. I sent a card and letter to Jim’s mom and took a card to Aunt Leta, but it seemed odd that I was not also shopping for a card or small token for Mama. I’ve worn her houseshoes and a pair of her tennis shoes since she’s been gone, but I’m well aware I can’t even begin to really fill her shoes.

Ozark writer Fred Starr said his mother was a “silent marcher in a great parade of mothers of a generation whose motto was ‘Others First.’” Our mother was surely marching in that same parade.

Starr further described his mother: “One of mother’s many virtues was tenderness. She couldbear any amount of pain herself, but she loathed to see others suffer. Beholding her going about her task of making those about her comfortable, you never had a feeling she was a martyr .... but she gave each glorious day of a long life as if it were a blessed privilege rather than a distasteful chore.”

Those words could so easily be telling our mother’s story. We miss her keenly, especially on this day set aside to honor mothers.

So many families have suffered painful losses recently. Keep them in your prayers. This Saturday was to include a benefit to help raise funds for the family of Cole Martinez. Though the benefit was cancelled just as this issue was being sent off to the press, I still urge you to continue to remember this family in yourthoughts and prayers.

As we look ahead to the month of June, we have plans for several interesting activities. The third race in horse racing’s famed Triple Crown will be run. Members of our library commission will be touring other area libraries. My friends and I are looking forward to touring the Museum of Native American History in Bentonville and viewing the current exhibits at Crystal Bridges, “The Hudson River School: Nature and the American Vision” and “American Encounters: Thomas Cole and the Narrative Landscape,” which opened Saturday.

Susan Holland, who works for the Westside Eagle Observer, is a lifelong Benton County resident.

Opinion, Pages 6 on 05/16/2012