My Mother's Shovel

This is my mother's shovel--although she is 96 and living in an assisted living facility and the shovel is only used by me I still call it "mother's shovel". It is worn and rather ragged but I like it better than any other of my digging tools. For one thing it's short and easy to maneuver. For another...it's my mother's. I got it stuck in a root several years ago and broke a big chunk out of it. A friend welded it back and told me to only use it for "display", that it had done it's job well and it was time to put it to rest. I agreed and promptly began using it again. It's a part of the front porch decor, always standing by the door. I do put it up during the winter months but it's the first tool I bring out in the Spring. So I don't know whether my garden is beautiful because of good dirt, an inherited "green thumb", or because I use my mother's shovel. I tend to believe the latter.