To Plant A Garden is to Believe in Tomorrow. – Audrey Hepburn

There’s a plant, Moses in the cradle, my mom received from someone, I forgot who. It was to help with health issues. My mom planted and cared for it and was able to brew it to drink it with her meals. The plant only had so many leaves until it regrew/reproduced. This pace was too slow for my dad, so he went to home depot to look for the plant, with a photo he had taken on the canon camera my mom (+ siblings?) had given him; he’s not a smartphone person. With limited English, an employee was able to identify the plant, then he took a photo of it on his Canon camera. He came home that day (or did he wait for me to come home on a weekend?) and showed me the name of the plant. Knowing the CIA that I am, he knew he could count on me to find what the plant was and how to find more.

It wasn’t easy, is what someone else would’ve said. I found it literally in minutes (I swear, my parents must always be amazed when I do that). I wasn’t ballin either, so we ordered 1-2 sets of 8 mini ones, like a root that’s about to be a leaf, just to be sure it. It arrived to their house and my parents were glad it was the correct one. They said to order another set, and I did. From there, they started splitting and repotting the plant.

A couple months later, I went home and the plants took over the coffee table. It was just amazing because it showed how my parents/Hmong parents are great gardeners. I could never do that; I don’t even dust fake plants. But the problem to their skill was limited space and storage. I went back (to my) home and ordered two five-shelf organizers shipped to their house. Then I went back home a couple months later, and there were a bunch of planting pots all over the kitchen floor and counter on top of the filled shelves. There was no room to walk and eat! LOL. Went back home, ordered them somewhat a mini greenhouse to put the plants on the floor outside. Those shelves were packed within weeks.

The winter months came and there was no way all the plants could fit in their house since the summer gifted them with great weather. My brother opened his duplex home for two five shelves of plants to go over there. This process itself took two hours. 30 minutes to load, 30 minutes to reorganize the setup situation at my parents' house. Then when we got to my brothers’, 30 minutes to assemble new shelf and 30 minutes to unload. I could’ve let my parents do all this by themselves because they didn’t ask me, but I didn’t need that. I simply saw that they were great at keeping the plants alive and I wanted more plants to be alive. Oh, and winter was coming.

I wish I have the tools and skills to design a nice garden shelf for them. But I don’t, and it’s ok. A hero can still show up to save the day. I gave them what I could, which was use my points to pay for all the shelves. Had I waited until I had the tools and skills, there wouldn’t be as many plants as there are today. Never once did my parents ask if I can buy any of the shelves or organize the plants. They actually wanted to pay for it but it was priced so much when they went to look. With my CIA skills, they costed nothing. I mean, I used my points (that was expiring) to pay for it.

Sometimes we don’t need a hero, we just need someone there. One could have all the skills and tools in the world and do absolutely nothing with it. As soon as I saw how good their gardening was, I knew I had to step in to take it to the next level.

JFK once said, “Don’t ask what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”

I say, “Don’t wait to be asked what you can do, do what you see need to be done.”

"Garden as though you will live forever." – William Kent