Welcome...

Welcome to The Garden...Replanted. In June of 2000 I was moved to create a medium where thoughts could be planted, and then sowed by a community of friends. Where we felt free to share who we were in a hope we would somehow better understand one another. For thirty six weeks a "Thoughtletter" (The Garden) was distributed to a group of about 100 via email, and hopefully, 100 lives were affected, even if in a very small way. My life was affected as I found excitement and joy in the willingness of my friends to share of themselves, to plant their small seeds into my life, and the lives of everyone who read. I found wonder in things I didn't know. I found contentment in seeing I was not alone. I found knowledge in learning things I hadn't experienced for myself.

And then, on a 7 mile run, I was moved to end it. As with all things on this earth, the time had come to say goodbye. Life, as it so often does, took over. My personal growth journey needed a change. And frankly, I had said all I felt I was capable of saying. So, I said farewell. March 1, 2001 marked the end of The Garden, and sadly, marked the end of my writing.

Today, I have found a flame to start again. I have no idea why. I don't really need to know why. What I do know is I feel it's time to start planting more seeds in a world that seems to desperately need tending to. I don't have all, or most, or possibly any of the answers to make this world a better place. What I do have is a desire to share again, and this site is that medium.

So, now that I have tilled the soil, and before I start to hoe my rows, I will look back to where it all began so that those of you who met me after March of 2001 can better understand what gives this site it's name, and what, or better yet, who, gave me the courage to start our little rag so long ago. In 2017 my mother compiled these "Thoughtletters" into a bound book and these are the words that are set on the back:

"It's very seldom in our lives that we come across one special person who makes us better than we are. That we find one person who takes the time to give so completely of himself to help make us better people. Rare maybe, but that special person once existed - William R. Wise aka Boompa. To young and old alike he shared his insight, his wisdom and his knowledge.

The garden, a combination of love, duty, and sometimes even dread was Boompa's "go to" spot. He grew the most beautiful and bountiful crops and shared not only his vegetables, but himself.

The Garden was born in that spot of earth. This book of thoughts, questions, discussions, and musings is dedicated to this unforgettable man. All of us are better for having known him."

Indeed, I am a better man for having my grandfather in my life. He taught me more than even I have come to understand. My days spent tending his garden not only provided nourishment for my body, but nourishment for my soul. The day he died I stood barefoot in his garden. The crops were dead. The weeds we worked so hard to vanquish, had taken deep roots. Yet all I felt was life radiating through the earth and into me. That 15 minutes of solitude is still one of the greatest moments of my life. There, a new seed was planted in me that still grows to this day. It is one of sharing. One of caring, empathy, joy, hard work, and a promise to myself, and to my Grandfather, that I would give of myself to help those around me. I haven't always kept that promise, and I am still learning how hard it is to give as much as he did. And, in this tiny way, I'll start trying again, here. Hopefully this replanted version of The Garden will nourish your soul just as it is nourishing mine.

Thank you for being here.

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