A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to meet another good person from community who knows what life is about and how to live it. She told me a story about her front yard garden that she has worked on for years and has placed a lot of time, money, attention, love and labor into. It’s a masterpiece of a garden. She calls it a “beauty garden.”
Not too long ago one of her neighbors was walking down the street with his 4-year-old daughter and stopped to look and admire her garden along the street.
On several occasions she has given flowers or small ornaments out of her garden to the child. As a result the little girl’s father created a small garden in the backyard for his daughter at home. Several weeks later the little girl went to the house and presented the lady with a bouquet of small pink flowers that she grew from her garden as a gift, as a sign of appreciation, as a thankyou.
When I heard that beautiful story I started to cry. Why? Because I don’t have enough of that type of exposure, of that type of experience, of that type of feeling, I’m lacking in that area just like millions of other people in this country.
This is why we have so many dysfunctional people in our country, so much hate, so much family violence, crime, divorce, child runaways, drug and alcohol addiction.
Why do these things happen? The answer is long and sad. Our country is currently in desperate need of a major social, political and economic change.
We need more “beauty garden lessons” for our community and country.
Tomas Cantu, Concepcion
