Afternoon Gardeners! A little while back we received a note from two gardeners in Atlanta, GA. There names are Skyler and Savannah, and they explained that their mom travels pretty often for work and they struggle with how much they miss her when she’s gone. Many of us have dealt with missing someone - whether it’s a traveling parent or a friend who moved away. Not having those people around us can make us feel sad and alone, but there are so many ways that we can maintain those relationships even at a distance. For people in Savanna & Skyler’s situation - remember that your parents miss you too! The people who take care of us work in part so that we can live good, supported lives. Make a calendar of your parent’s or friend’s schedules so that you can plan on a time to touch base and video chat or plan an activity to do with them when they are home!
Sometimes, that missing feeling is more permanent when we lose people in our lives. It’s really hard to talk about, but it’s a reality for many gardeners. How do we deal with missing someone who is not around anymore? Making time to remember those people - by talking about them with family members and friends, by looking at pictures or objects that make us think of them, or maybe it’s about crying and letting out feelings that are kept inside. All of those things help to keep their spirit and presence alive.
In any case, we can always be a friend to gardeners who are missing people in their lives. We can do this just by listening, by showing our friend that you are there to support them when they are missing loved ones. Even just focusing on the flowers in our lives, gives us the extra bit of strength to pull out our weeds or help keep the weeds from growing too big.
Below is a craft to help remind us of all of the wonderful flowers in our lives, here is what you'll need:
A piece of paper
Black marker
Colored pencils or markers
Draw a flower as big as your piece of paper. Put as many petals on it as you would like - enough to write in ALL of the flowers in your life. Write your name in the center of the flower and write in your flowers on the petals. Color in the petals and the stem, and add a background if you’d like! Then hang your flower in your room, keep it on the refrigerator, or at your desk at school to remind you of all the flowers during those time where the weeds start to take over.
Follow the tutorial in Episode 9 (starting at 3:26)!
Last but not least, when we feel especially alone, it's important to remember that the future is BRIGHT!! Thanks for checking in gardeners and see you next time!