Welcome

Inspiration

While growing up in Perkasie, our family farmland was slowly transformed into common grass fields as my grandfather sold off his steer and tore down the electric fences that surrounded our property. Within the large property, each of my grandfather's children had their own acreage to maintain. While the bigger farming effort was phased out, each child grew and maintained a vegetable garden to help feed their family. I have many memories of digging in the garden and harvesting fruits and vegetables as a child.

Years later, my mother became an avid gardener who loved to plant various trees and plants in her backyard. She wasn't always successful, since her thumb wasn't always green, but she loved planting new plants. Frequently, she encouraged me to get some plants and trees for my backyard, but I did not have a lot of spare time for gardening since I was busy raising three boys. My mom was persistent though, and would often save extra bulbs for me to plant that she no longer had room for.

Then, in 2006, my mom was diagnosed with lung cancer. I remember being at her house with her as she gazed out in her yard fondly, and said "it's almost the park I always wanted it to be." Less than a year later, I sat with her in the hospital as she looked at pictures of her beloved plants and trees. Suddenly, mom's face saddened and she said, "these will be the last trees I ever get to see bloom." A week later, she passed away.

Creation

As I struggled to deal with mom's passing, her comment about having a park in the backyard kept replaying in my head. As I stared at my relatively barren backyard, I thought maybe planting a garden would be just the catharsis I needed to help me with my grief. I asked my husband if he would help me construct a flower bed in memorial of my mom. He quickly agreed, and after a lot of shoveling on his part and planting on mine, we completed the first bed. Then another, and another. Before I knew it, I had my very own park.

Today

We love our park, and add little pieces to it every year; one year a bird bath, another a bench, and so on. The park gives us a place to relax and escape from the troubles of the day, as we burn wood in our little chiminea and drink wine while reflecting on the day's events.