THE GARDEN THAT MADE ROOM FOR
EVERYBODY’S WORK
To the Editor: The restoration of The Gardens at Georgetown, with help from civic groups, local businesses, volunteers, and people from the Essex County Sheriff’s Pre-Release Center, offers an uncommon picture of community: people with different circumstances working toward something everyone can enjoy.
My Christian faith makes me think of Jesus’ words about the last becoming first. Service is not reserved for the most prominent person in the group. A person carrying away debris can contribute as meaningfully as the person cutting the ribbon.
That matters to me after a stroke left my left side paralyzed in 1992. I learned that people have different physical capacities, but everyone deserves an opportunity to contribute and to belong. Some can clear heavy material; others can plant, organize, welcome visitors, or help maintain what has been restored.
The coming ceremony may celebrate a finished project, but its strongest legacy could be what happens afterward: whether those who visit feel welcome and whether many kinds of neighbors can share responsibility for caring for the space.
A garden grows because people return. So does a community.
Douglas Vandergraph
Fort Collins, Colorado
