A tribute

I thought I would write something new but words fail me. I offer this, spoken at the first planting of the Spiral Garden, on May 6, 2006.

When I first met Alby he planted a huge garden, nearly half an acre. He was always full of garden plans, flowering gardens, vegetable gardens, dreams of ginseng growing in the woods. Together we planted lilies and hostas to feed the deer; we played together in our new home and we grew little people.

We used this poem at our wedding and gave it away as favors: The faith waiting in the heart of the seed promises a miracle of life which it cannot prove at once.

The heart of the seed promises abundance in its future flowering.

The seed of a new baby promises unimaginable miracles in first discoveries.

The promise of miracles is found in each of these amazing children, and I feel strongly that our partnership and love helped guide them into the people they are today. They continue to teach me and fill my life with abundance with their ideas, insights, compassion and hope.

The faith that Alby and I could step off the cliff into the unknown together, the heart in the seed of our life blossomed into blessings of home, travel, laughter and love, and even in the midst of the shock and grief of this past year, and in the suspended place of my life now without him, I am reminded over and over how I still live in the abundance we created.

Alby, you have been released into pure energy, and these remains are simply the dust left behind. You are all around us, in the air we breathe, in the feelings we have for each other, in the music we hear and in the love we share.

Alby, May everything you have given us live in us and let our legacy be to create abundance of love and blessings in our lives.

Everything we need, everything we are and can become is right here, right now.

Il faut cultiver le jardin.