Build with Her

My dad loved the neighbor's garden three doors down, and he was determined that ours looked just as lovely, if not nicer. And so he knocked on the neighbor's door one day and asked her where she got her plants from, when he should be planting these flowers, and how long it would take for a return on his investment. She handed my father a catalog of flowers, along with planting information.

And so, there I was on a Saturday morning, in our dining room staring down more than 100 bulbs of tulips, geraniums, and other flowers I couldn’t pronounce. The season to plant was here. My dad, the neighbor, and I went out into our front yard and prepped it for what was going to be his gift back to the neighborhood, a fantastic yard.

Over the next two days, we prepped the soil and ultimately planted all the bulbs. For the next few months, we often went out into the yard and pulled up the weeds. Not really a chore, but as he would sit on the porch drinking a beer in anticipation of what was to arrive, he would ask me to go into the house and get a bag, and we would take a little bit of time pulling up the weeds.

When Spring arrived and that first set of tulips bloomed, there he was standing in the yard, admiring his hard work. And month over month, he would step back and compare his yard to the one three houses down, and if he saw there was room for improvement, he would be right there ordering more bulbs that we could plant.

He had his sights on getting better and better over time, and he paced his self, not expecting that it would happen immediately. In many ways, it taught me not to settle for mediocrity in the things I worked for. I delighted in just as much pleasure as he did in seeing our hard work produce such a beautiful yard.

Have you and your daughter worked on something that you have been able to look back at and marvel? No time like the present. You are building lasting memories and perhaps even teaching lessons you didn’t know, along the way.