Learning From The Garden

I was perusing some older photos of the garden the other day and it struck me how much it has changed in the 3 years since I began to carve out the beds and give each plant a home.  We know, even expect, that a garden will change from moment to moment, day to day, year to year.  It will grow, some will not make it through, some will flourish and become unruly, seeds will blow about creating beauty you never knew possible, your best laid plans may or may not come to fruition, and some under appreciated plants will suddenly become the best thing you ever planted, the only thing certain about a garden is that it will change.  Our lives are no different than the garden!  This was never so obvious to me as it has been this year.  I am not particularly fond of change, though rationally I know it will happen whether I want it to or not.  I prefer quiet change, a gentle type that simmers awhile before it boils and am much less happy with change that seems to run up and smack you hard in the head...you know the kind I speak of!  I have been smacked in the head so often lately, I honestly think I have a concussion!  In the span of 5 short months my Mom has been diagnosed with cancer, gone through treatment to no avail and now faces having her voice box removed, my husband suddenly lost the job he had been in for 18 years leaving us without our main source of income and putting us into a state of shock and panic, he has since been fortunate enough to secure a better position and just as we began to believe the storm had passed, a very close and dear friend suddenly died of a massive heart attack, leaving everyone who loved him to ponder the fragility of life.   We have come out the other side intact, but forever changed in a multitude of very personal, deep down in the soul ways.  We have grown, much the same as the garden after a storm.  Today, we were informed that we are to become Grandparents....Hallelujah, the sun is shining and the birds are singing!!  Change, my friends, happens moment to moment, day to day, year to year.  In life, as in the garden, the sun will shine, the storm will come, change will happen, it is inevitable!
Happy Gardening!