It didn’t take long for my seven feathered girls to start laying more eggs than we could consume. Ruby lays smaller eggs, so we save those for our own consumption and the rest head out the door. I took a dozen to school for a co-worker and shortly thereafter had an email from another teacher asking if she could buy a dozen. I told her I’d bring them in the morning and stopped by her classroom on the way to my own with a carton of beautifully colored eggs.

She took the carton, opened it and exclaimed, “Oh! Green ones!! My mother used to have chickens that laid green eggs! What fun it will be to have these again!” She set the eggs down and reached in her purse for the small total I charge for eggs.

I said she needn’t bother with a payment today. She assured me she was eager and quite happy to do so. Knowing her mother passed away just a year ago, I explained that a memory of a mother shouldn’t come with a price tag and today I was just so thrilled to be able to provide her with a little reminder of her mom.

While my mom grew up on a farm, I have no memory of her with chickens. But I have endless memories of her generosity. As I left the classroom of my co-worker as she continued to admire the colorful eggs, I knew we were both blessed today with memories of our moms and the legacies they left for us to carry forth.