A Tangible Gift.

I have a friend I have never met.

Today, the above statement makes sense, where once, this would easily been assumed to be the beginning of a riddle.  The days of Facebook sure have changed things.  Today, lots of people can make that statement and be completely serious.

Now, of course one could argue that these are not true "friends"...and I support anyone's assertion that they should be careful with how the toss around the word "friend"...because it is true, there is a difference between people you know and those who you can claim are your friends.

When I read on Facebook that my "friend" is fighting to survive her cancer, and in some considerable pain, I immediately asked myself many personal questions.  I am not sure what to do for her.  I have not been sure what to do for anyone I have ever met that has been handed the path of cancer treatment.  I stopped to send her a message...tried to keep it above the horizon and carefully considered.  But I can't stop feeling like this is not enough.

In real life, here, in my life...my response to a close "friend" in this position would be quite different.  When someone close to me lost their mother, I wound up cooking and doing dishes and the occasional laundry.  What about a "friend" I have never met?  Are kind words enough?  Is that what a friend would do?

My answer to this came to me when I logged on to Kickstarter.com to check on what needs a helping hand in our world.  I usually share garden or urban farm projects when I find them....and certainly promote them to all my people...and have made a habit of checking Kickstarter for these kinds of projects regularly.  The first I found was based in London.  I was thrilled at the irony and the symbolism of this find:




My friend Brenda, fighting for her life in a hospital, lives in the United Kingdom.  Her and I have often shared photos and discussed our love of the famous gardens of England.  I have even offered her my couch if ever she wished to visit Alaska.

I wish to make sure that good things grow in her backyard.  I wish for the world near her to be a better place.  I want her kids and grandchildren to enjoy a brave new world.  How awesome that my funding a tiny little garden can be a tangible gift of change in honor of a great lady!

Then I found one in the neighborhood of my awesome Uncle Donald (more about him in HIS OWN post...lol!)...and funny, he called just today to chat about becoming a DJ after all these years!  I hope he gets a great salad out of this someday:



Love you Uncle (Alaska Don) Donald Thomas!