Sunday was Mom’s birthday and we celebrated by going to Callaway Gardens, which was once a place my family visited often. Mom and Dad have gotten older, and Dad just can’t drive long distances any longer. But I think they look really sweet in this photo. We had a wonderful time being together and remembering days when our entire family—aunts, uncles, and cousins would meet here for a picnic lunch and fellowship.
The gardens are suffering. Low attendance and a tumbling economy has made an impact. Still these roses are beautiful and wonderfully happy. In fact. a friend told me their name is laughter.
For 10 years prior to his death, co founder Cason Callaway (his wife Ida was the other founder) planned this chapel that was dedicated to his mother. The Callaway Garden Web site said, “He spent days walking the property looking for the perfect spot to build this chapel. A week before his death, he finalized the plans for it. Although he never saw it completed, he already had seen it in his mind’s eye.”
The chapel is reminiscent of 16th-century Gothic chapels. It was constructed of fieldstone quartz and natural materials and also contains a custom-built Möller pipe organ. On Sunday, the organ was being played during a concert and you could hear it out over the small lake that is in front of the chapel.
Nothing fancy with this photo. I was in a hurry to get back to Atlanta. So this was just a snap shot, but it is a good enough place holder for me to write that the chapel was dedicated in April 1962 by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale. You better believe that in this settling plenty of weddings have taken place over the years.
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