I was a little girl growing up in suburban New Jersey when I discovered that caring for plants made me feel good. My father planted a few tomato plants in a rose bed that had seen better days. I checked them each day for yellow flowers and watered them until their thirst was quenched. Later in the season we were rewarded with beautiful homegrown Jersey tomatoes. They graced our hamburger buns and salad plates, BLT’s and egg salad sandwiches. I felt so proud to have cared for them and to have helped them become what they were meant to become.
Now I am teaching my daughter the joys of planting a vegetable garden. We planted our lettuce seeds in early Spring and tonight we enjoyed our first harvest. After school she checks the progress of the plants while I weed the flower beds.
No matter where you live, New York City, suburbia USA, the country or in a dorm room, there is a place for a little flower pot, a seed and your love and care to help it on its way to becoming what it is meant to be. Grow something, and grow a little happiness.