Giving Back with Care at POD

Staff at POD saw that K, their sociable, longest-term client had really taken to their little yard. It turns out the yard that K tends connects him to a happy time—and lets him keep giving back.

When asked why he tended the yard with such care, K went back in time to when he lived a good life, when his wife was alive. “Our yard had a little concrete wall about one-foot high that ran the length of the front yard. The side facing the road had all kinds of daisies growing.  The little kids would walk the concrete wall and pick the flowers until there were no more to pick.”

One day his wife asked to knock down that wall as it was serving no purpose.  But K didn’t agree. He felt the wall did serve a purpose, “It gave kids happiness and joy.”

How does that connect to the POD yard? “Everything has a purpose. Just like this yard.  It brings me back to those good years and I want to give back. Someday I won’t be able to give back but until that day comes, I will weed, plant and enjoy what life brings my way.” So, at K’s request and under his supervision, new flowers were planted in the POD garden. No doubt, the lucky flowers will be carefully tended by K.