A Gift from My Father’s Garden
This weekend we celebrate Father’s Day. Society’s expectations of men have changed dramatically over the last twenty years. Nonetheless, every child still needs to experience the healthy love, guidance, and example of a father or a father figure.
I remember my father’s garden. He took immense satisfaction from tending his large, flourishing garden. By the time I was a teenager, I realized that his greatest joy in gardening came not from growing or eating the produce, but from giving it away. He delighted in sharing his abundance of fruit and vegetables at every opportunity.
Etched into my memory is a sunny summer morning. I awoke to Dad, sitting head in hands in the kitchen, saying over and over, “If they had only asked, I would have given them all they wanted…I would have given them all they wanted.”
During that night, thieves had raided his garden, stolen every cantaloupe melon, ripe and green alike. In the process, they trampled even more of his precious garden. My father wasn’t perfect. No one is, but in that moment, he taught me a wonderful life lesson. Those thieves did more than steal some fruit. From my father, they took away his joy in sharing. They stole a piece of his heart. By expressing his hurt so openly, he showed me what it means to be vulnerable. I learned something about the true cost of theft and, even more importantly. about generosity. Giving from the heart brings the greatest joy.
Today, at age eighty-two, I still feel great joy in giving. We never have yard sales. When we no longer need something, we give it away. Giving of my time, money, and energy brings me joy. Knowing it helps others even makes paying income tax easier.
When I’m writing my books, I’m following in my father’s footsteps. My greatest reward lies in writing them. All profit goes to creating more books and stories, and giving some away. Knowing others find pleasure, even learning, in reading my books brings me joy. My father gave me a precious gift as he lived his life.
Take some time over this coming Father’s Day weekend to reflect on the life lessons you learned from your father, or those adults who were part of your childhood. Tell the stories. It will be good for you and will be a gift for them. Thank them, face to face, or in a letter, or a prayer. These actions will be giving your father a gift from your heart. You will both receive Joy. You will experience, as my father taught me long ago, that the greatest gift is the joy of giving.