Meet Juana, one of my new friends. Juana rides the bus to the Sacred Seeds garden almost every day to check on the plants, weed and water. I’ve only known Juana for a couple of months, when I was introduced to her husband, Luis and the Pixan Ixim Community Center. We invited them to have their own area in Sacred Seeds to plant their seeds, unaware that Juana would grow to love each plant in the garden and care for it as her own. I have learned so much observing her work.

Yesterday, she found one of her corn plants broken off at the bottom. She dropped to her knees, mourning the life lost. She sat there for several minutes. When she rose up, one of our crew asked if we couldn’t try and replant it. Juana was resolute, “No, it wouldn’t work.” Her sadness lingered until she started another task.

At the end of the shift, I saw her broken corn plant by her backpack. As we gathered things to leave the garden, she brought the plant over and explained that she was going to make tamales for us out of the corn. Her brilliant smile eroded the earlier sadness as she had decided how to use her beloved corn to bless the rest of us. Her resiliency inspires me.

Juana has made Sacred Seeds her home away from home which is away from her home. She left Guatemala over two decades ago and doesn’t feel like she fits in everywhere she goes. Her loss is hard for me to understand. Her kindness encourages me.