Mom's Garden: A Parable About Change

On Saturday mornings, my mom likes to do gardening. She’s been taking care of our garden ever since we moved to our home.


She started with roses. She bought pots of different colored roses: yellow, pink, purple… She took the time to water each plant, and she experimented with various Miracle-Gro products to see which one worked best. When a plant got bigger, she transferred it to a bigger pot. When the plant grew too big to be contained in a pot, she planted it in a brick flower bed border near the side of our house.


When we remodeled our kitchen a few years ago, we learned from our contractor that they needed to remove the roses that she planted by the side of the house to fix some rotten wood flooring near the dining area. At the time, Mom was disappointed, but only a few months later, the roses were in full bloom again and flourished even prettier than before.


Mom also planted rosemary and other herbs. She has a large lemon plant and an avocado plant. And, she has a variety of other plants and flowers, some of which have been around for a long time, but others are new, replacing ones that didn’t blossom and had to be thrown away. When an occasional storm passes, the heavy rain and wind would destroy some of the delicate flowers, but it’s okay, she just trims the wilted flowers and leaves. If needed, she pruned back the branches. 


Over the years, various people helped us with the garden. When she worked at a business office of a nursing home, she became friends with their handyman. He came to our house to help pull weeds and clean the yard. He helped our family for many years, and over time, we saw his hair start to turn gray. We were afraid that he might hurt his back pulling weeds, and so he had to stop doing that for us. Mom tried to find someone else to help. Somebody suggested a friend of a friend who came to clean the yard for some extra cash. Then, Mom found a landscaper who did several projects for us and continues to be a go-to person.


On the other side of our backyard, there’s a garden slope where she has a variety of succulents. Turns out, succulents are relatively easy to maintain. A couple of months ago, she hired the landscaper to put up a retaining wall. To do that, he and his workers had to clear out all the succulents. When they finished the retaining wall, they replanted a few succulents. She was pleased with how neat and clean it turned out. After a couple of weeks, we noticed that weeds grew in between the succulents. Now, she’s planning to find someone to pull out the weeds to clean the area again.


Mom’s garden transformed many times and it continues to evolve. She’s in her 80’s now and still enjoys taking care of her garden. There’s always something to do. She’s either trimming leaves or fertilizing or planting something new. It is hard work for her and I know she gets tired, but she still does it. Yes, some flowers don’t bloom, and some leaves wither, and some plants die. But that’s all part of gardening. And the reward is experiencing growth in the beauty of nature.



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