In the Garden

Want to bond with someone? Ride through the hills of West Virginia, blaring Britney after a full day of drinking. Not drunk, just a long day of drink after drink. That would be one of the most fun memories I have with my co-Britney fan.

However, yesterday we created a new memory. We went to Longwood Gardens and we ate their rolls, tops puffing out of little flower pots. The Gardens were pretty though I'm not a plant person. And I've personally seen enough Christmas lights to last me until next year. It was still neat though. As she pointed out, I know all about photosynthesis now. ALL ABOUT IT. More than I ever wanted to, really.

But - what struck me wasn't so much the gardens themselves or the beauty of the plant life. What struck me was knowing two of my friends once got engaged there and the history the place has seen. The grounds are huge, I believe it said 402 acres. And all I could picture was someone growing up there but the truth is, from what co-Britney fan and I could see, no one actually did. There were large parties and entertainment abound but DuPont seemed to have married relatively late in life and the little history they gave on him and his wife, I don't believe they had children. She and I both took notice to how old they looked in their honeymoon picture.

After getting the brief history and taking our stroll, I started thinking. Besides the peacefulness of the place, I began to realize this was this man's baby in life. This garden that would continue to bloom and grow year after year, this was the main place he left his legacy. While he did plenty of other philanthropy in his lifetime, leaving behind other legacies, this was his greatest and obviously his passion. He left the world a much more beautiful place than when he entered it.

As I look at this, I see a life. A life where great care was taken and probably great joy was found. The beauty, to me, is not in the actual gardens themselves but in the appreciation this man had for his gardens. In the life this man lived and that he made his mark. I doubt he thought of it then but who would have guessed proposals would take place there? That lives would be altered for the better? That others would have part of their own stories unfold on his land?

One man's life can change a great many others. In some ways, he has even helped to change mine. I'll be planning a meetup there in the future... and one never knows where things of that nature could lead.