This is the time of year, for many of us, when our thoughts turn to planting and gardening. Having recently purchased a home and moved, I find myself immersed in planting and gardening (among all those chores and tasks of cleaning, unpacking, rearranging…) –yes, creating and strategically placing flower baskets, cleaning flowerbeds and a raspberry patch, transplanting strawberries, and even planting a pear tree!

But whether I’m delighting in the soft, fine soil that works under my hands while I’m creating my baskets and garden or while I’m lost in the writing process, I feel Cindy’s warmth and love around me—right off my back deck, which also happens to be the view from my office window facing the greenbelt at the back of the house, is a gorgeous dogwood tree that’s beginning to bloom…a species of tree Cindy adored.

Many years ago, well before her harassment, Cindy and Roy gave me a leather broach fashioned as a dogwood flower. And although I cherished that broach, I never thought much about dogwood trees…until I discovered my current property boasts a beautiful tree even the neighbors envy. So for me that dogwood tree symbolizes love and beauty and goodness, and epitomizes my beloved sister, Cindy.

Trees or shrubs are beautiful symbols that allow you to keep healthy connections to your deceased beloved. And this happens to be the perfect time of year to plant something in honor of your beloved! So think about which of nature’s children you’d like to have nearby to wrap you in love and memories of your beloved.

Now you’ll have to excuse me…I’m off to transplant ever-bearing strawberries that the neighbor doesn’t want anymore and graciously donated to me—a fruit Cindy also adored and grew with great success in her own garden.

Melanie Hack
Author of Who Killed My Sister, My friend
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TV Shows and Clips about the Death of Cindy James