A couple of months ago a resident at the nursing home I work at passed away. Death is not a surprising phenomenon when working with seniors, but it is still one that I often find difficult to process. Some days are harder than others. The resident who died, had only hours before been helping me put tomato plants in the garden. He talked proudly of his garden at home and the many years he had tilled the earth. As the tomato plants have grown, flourished, produced fruit, and are now starting to whither and die, I find myself remembering him. I remember his stories, his humour, his love for nature.

"It is not from ourselves that we learn to be better than we are"

-Wendell Berry