Report From An Opinionated Gardener – November 15
I believe that gardens help to heal grief. The summer my brother Richard died, I was on Martha’s Vineyard every week, photographing gardens for my last book. It was a blessing to be among such beauty, growth and flowers. It’s not that the garden makes grief go away, but the curative power of their strength and splendor can help soothe our sorrow.
Our life’s gardens must contain a measure of loss. To be alive means that deaths will occur: family, friends, pets and plants will die, and we, the living, have to go on without them. We honor them with our love, memories and all of the life-affirming activities we continue to do.
Today would have been my brother Richard’s 53rd birthday. He’s been gone for just over 3 years, and I’m taking this opportunity to say that I miss him.
This is a scanned photo of my father, James H. Albertson, and my brother Richard. I love the joy that is in their faces, as they are both thrilled that my father was home. Today, they are both at home in my heart.
