Lessons learned in the garden.

The garden, it’s one of my favorite places to be. It is serene. There is a great peace that comes with watching life happen.

Watching nature unfold stops time.

I spent a lot of my childhood in a garden.

I learned how to make straight lines, dig holes, plants seeds, care for those same seeds and prune weeds. After months of labor I learned how to harvest what I sowed. I learned that hard work pays off.

I learned that most things take patience, and diligence. I learned that those are the things that are truly worth it.

We didn’t just have a vegetables, you planted a whole other garden. You said it was mine. We planted flowers galore. Sunflowers, marigolds, wildflowers and more marigolds.

I don’t remember you ever getting frustrated with my small hands as they fumbled and as I got older and less interested you still made room for my flower garden.

I loved that garden. Before you retired you used to bring me a rose home after work. A pink rose. On my lucky days I was able to go with you to the flower shop and go in the freezer and pick out my own. I don’t know if I ever told you but those are some of my favorite memories.

When I think of you I think if outdoors. I think of f clouds, swinging, lightening bugs. I think of fishing.

You see if there was one thing you instilled in me, it was a love of the outdoors. In the outdoors you came alive and so did I.

In the garden is where I learned about life, it’s where you taught me that family is everything.

In the garden is where you taught me be my own person.

In the garden is where your walls came down. My walls came down.

I still find peace whenever I’m luckily enough to find myself in a garden. I still think of you when I see the clouds, or a firefly. I still smile when I see a pink rose.

Thank you for always being my biggest cheerleader even when it scared you. Thank you for believing in my dreams even when they didn’t make sense. Thank you for being you.

Seven years is an awful long time to not hear you. Whether you griping at my choices or teaching me about life. I always looked forward to garden meets. When it was just me, you and nature. When time stood still and I was just a little girl again.

Thank you for all the lessons in the garden.