By Violet R. Eye
I have been friends with and known the Propst family for 60+ years, and I know them to be a close-knit, Christian family. My husband and I lived right above the Sinnett Lane Store for several years.
Ms. Ruth (Virginia “Ruth” Propst Craig) reminded me of her grandmother, Bessie Propst, who I would see walking past the house, just before dark, to spend the night at the store with Dillion and Virginia. Bessie was a kind soft spoken lady just like Ruth.
Ruth and I would visit if there wasn’t another customer waiting, and there wasn’t a subject that we couldn’t talk about with the other. We didn’t solve any problems but did agree that we could pray. The last time Ruth and I visited was the first of April. I shared the following article with Ruth and Virginia last Christmas.
The Magnificent Orchid
If you have read any of my writings, you know that I enjoy beautiful things, especially flowers. I was not blessed with my mom’s gift of growing things, although I try from time to time.
This article is about an orchid that welcomes visitors to the Sinnett Lane Grocery. Ruth has her orchid sitting in front of two windows that are on different walls where it gets the sun from the east and from the south.
I stopped at the store on Dec. 13, 2024, and when I entered, I could hardly believe my eyes! That orchid was spectacular. The pot holding this big plant is probably a container that holds three gallons.
This orchid is unlike any I have tried to grow. It has smaller leaves, and a lot of leaves, unlike the ones you can purchase at Walmart that have much larger leaves and only three or four.
Anyone who has grown an orchid knows the roots lay above the potting soil, curled, winding around, overriding themselves until they look like a pile of brush.
This orchid usually has three or four arms that go up and then stretch out. The beautiful, lavender-pink-white blooms sit on these arms, which look to be a foot or more long from the bottom of the arm to the top.
I have seen three or four arms of flowers on this orchid over the years, but when I entered the store this morning, I could hardly believe what I was seeing. That orchid had eight arms going up. Some were one long arm, while others had split off about halfway up with shorter arms, and each one was lined with flowers.
I don’t recall ever seeing anything like this. Ruth said in all the years she has had this orchid, she has never seen it bloom like this.
Ruth said that the orchid requires two things—keep its feet wet and leave it alone. That’s what she does.
The last time I visited with Ruth, two arms on the orchid were starting to reach up toward heaven.
I visited with Kathy on May 22, and both arms were covered with flowers. Only God knows why this magnificent show of beauty happened in December of 2024.
