Today was a day of pleasant surprises. It began when our mail carrier  delivered the mail. It contained a get well card from someone I had not heard from in a very long time. The personalized note was warm and thoughtful.

No sooner had I finished the note than the mail carrier began to place boxes of engraved rocks on a table under our Chinese dawn redwood tree.

Michael Sackett, the owner of Let’s Rock Carved Stone has been doing this work for us since May, and this shipment contained engraved rocks that are very special to us. They include the names of our parents, our relatives and our grandchildren. They will occupy a very special place in the Garden of Life.

The shipment also contained some very symbolic rocks that will be placed in the Garden of Life on Friday, July 27, during the Irish Teachers Festival.

These rocks will be carried to the garden by the heart surgeon who saved my life, Michael Harostock, and the woman who gave us the idea for a Garden of Life, Barbara Loots, writing stylist at Hallmark cards.

It will be quite a moment.

After sorting through the rocks and commenting on the beauty of Michael’s work, Kitch and I headed inside for some lunch. As we were finishing, the phone rang.

It was Virginia Zikor calling from her car that was conveniently parked in our driveway.

“Please come outside we have a surprise for you.’

We did and the surprise was wonderful.

This morning, John Zikor read Rebecca Bria’s story, Worth Their Weight about the Forty-Fort Meeting House in the Times Leader.

In order to raise funds for the additional cost of the renovation of the historic building, the committee decided to sell rocks from the foundation.

The Zikors, knowing about the symbolism of the newly created Garden of Life in Windsor Park drove to Forty Fort, and they purchased rocks for their garden and ours.

There is an irony here. Before my cardiac event, Kitch and I volunteered to help the Forty-Fort Meeting House Preserveration Committee. Kitch loves the building and the history of that special place as do I. Memorial Day came…I experienced my tomorrow…the operation was performed, and I have been sidelined during my recovery.

All this was going through my head as I snapped pictures of John, Virginia and Kitch at The Garden of Life on this beautiful July afternoon.

Thanks to a wonderful story, effectively written by Rebecca, a thoughtful friend with an appreciation for history and a decision to sell the rocks that came circumstantially, The Garden of Life has a piece of local history that brings but another dimension to this new garden.

Someone once said that in a garden you find wonderful surprises around every corner. Kitch and I know this to be very true in our garden, Windsor Park.

(We asked The Times Leader for permission to use the image of Rebecca's article. We asked Rebecca Bria for permission to quote from sections of her article. To purchase a stone, call Lydia Hirner at the Forty Fort Cemetery Association at 287-5214 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.)

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