The Habit of Kindness: Giving a Garden to a Little Girl

Of Bachelor's Buttons and Mr Bell...A Syracuse Memory

When I was a child, we had to move from our apartment on Bradley St and live with my grandparents while my parents searched for a new apartment. While I loved the extra time with my grandparents, I was thrilled when my father walked me over to the place that would be our next home. The apartment was on the corner of Primrose and Midland. The apartment smelled of new paint and old wood. I knew I would like our new place. As I looked out the window across Primrose Ave, the house on the opposite corner commanded my attention. It had the most beautiful garden.

Once we moved in, my family got to know the owners of that garden, Mr and Mrs Bell. They were a nice retired couple. Mrs Bell befriended my mom, but I got to know Mr Bell. I'd chat with him as he tended his garden. I got to know the strong smell of the fish he'd use to fertilize the soil. I'd watch him clip and prune and lovingly tend his garden. He had roses and lilies and pansies and flowers of all shapes and sizes. He didn't seem to mind the company and I loved learning by observing all he did.

One day, he looked up at me and said, "How would you like your own garden?" I told him I didn't have any place or plants to grow anything. "He said, "Sure you do. Your front lawn has as much space as mine. But we'll make it small so it can be your garden. How about that?" So Mr Bell helped me select plants from his garden to transplant into mine. We selected a small area in front of the front porch of out apartment .He dug the hole, turned over the soil, and helped me plant and water them. Then it became my garden. While not as grand as his, it was mine. It had Johnny jump-ups, marigolds and bachelor's buttons. That one act of kindness of my neighbor made my summer.

As I never was allowed to address adults by their first name, I never learned their full names except Mr and Mrs. But one thing I did learn was that Mr Bell's birthday was the Fourth of July. So every Fourth of July, I not only remember our Nation's beginning, but the kindness of a neighbor long ago <3 Happy Birthday Mr Bell!

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