In Sebastopol there is a Peace Garden: I know because my Mom was one of the “hippies” who thought of the idea and planted it over 30 years ago. Actually, she planted it as a member of the EarthStewards group. I have photos of Mom and the founder Danaan Parry hugging. I went to the garden this past Spring, since Mom had died, based on a very distant memory of it.
I saw the first few flowers in the 1980’s in that garden, and thought they’d die without water within one year, or get uprooted by the terrifying Sebastopol Gophers; the flowers were so small and fragile. I was that pessimistic about how much Mom and her group could do when I was young. Although I wanted peace as much as everyone else. The Berlin Wall was still up, and wars never seemed to end in the Middle East. You won’t believe what I found …. continue reading
I have been living with death for about two years now, so have already passed through many stages of grief, and so let’s talk about the bittersweetness of death, urns and ashes: First my cat Giovanni, then my next door neighbor, and then my own Mom, followed by one more cat Gypsy, right after Mom died. That’s four deaths…and too many. 
