My mom often showed her love by sending surprises in the mail. Many times, the packages came from QVC. Leopard print slippers (I’m so not an animal print kind of girl), a pair of sandals, lavender plants, a Christmas centerpiece, garden lanterns, a kitchen tool, or a whizbang new vacuum. Sometimes, she’d give me a heads up; other times, a box would arrive in the mail, and I’d get a phone call, “Did you get it?” She was always excited to hear my reaction.

Mom passed away in March, so you can imagine my surprise when a box from QVC arrived in May.

Opening the box, I discovered these four tomato seedlings, and I remembered – a vague recollection that she’d told me she ordered them back in January – before our world fell apart with her cancer diagnosis.

I babied those little plants, determined to keep them alive until planting time.

And planting time came while I was away, so Hannah took over their care, labeling them “Nancy’s tomatoes.”

Ultimately, I planted two in my new raised bed and two in pots on the porch.

Both sets thrived.

Until some critter ate the tops of the tomatoes in the raised bed. I cried and then moved the bear cam to the raised bed to identify the culprit. I have a summer’s worth of pictures of Hannah and me turning on the garden hose and never did learn who nibbled them.

Protected by the screens, the porch tomatoes flourished.

My first ripe tomato was cause for celebration.

The growing season’s end brings a particular melancholy this year. With temps dropping into the upper 30s at night, I’ve harvested the remaining green and red tomatoes. Mom’s thoughtfulness turned out to be a most beautiful blessing.