“Every time I look at my garden, I feel helpless”, says Susan, who has been dealing with ovarian cancer for the last six years. “We created this entire garden from prickles. There was nothing, only bushes and prickles.” Looking down from the back veranda of her gorgeous Queenslander, it is hard to imagine that this beautiful oasis was once only bush. While now overgrown, it still feels like paradise with a lagoon pool, a Bali-style pergola and lots of tropical plants. Three volunteers -Angel, Stewart and Lorraine from Serve the City – helped bring the garden back to a piece of bliss at our last event on Saturday. Susan:” I am delighted with the volunteers!”
It seems like such a small and humbling task -pulling out weeds, removing overgrown bushes and trimming hedges. Yet, for Susan it means the world. “With the cancer, it often feels like nothing changes in my life. I am in hospital everyday, sometimes all day. When I come home and stumble up the stairs exhausted, I look outside and see the garden and I just sigh. It depresses me and I just don’t want to look outside again.”
Well, the volunteers from Serve the City certainly changed that! Yet still, why would someone come out to work up a sweat on their weekend day off? Angel, one of the volunteers, works fulltime as a dental assistant and was the first signup for Susans’ project. She explains: “I’ve always liked helping. My parents have been a big help to me with my house and my own garden and I just like the idea of being part of a community. We live in a big city and sometimes we don’t even know our own neighbors. I guess I love building a community and be part of it.”
She and the other two legends worked tirelessly in the heat to do as much work as possible. “I can’t believe it!”, smiles Susan, “I’ve tried so hard to get someone out to help me. But no one would come or help, they would either not turn up or not even wanting to do it.” Our volunteers did turn up though and the front yard is now weed free and the backyard got a full makeover with lots of big weeds pulled out and area’s cleaned up. Susan’s husband Gerhard helped alongside our volunteers to give a hand and work up a sweat.
Susan: “I really can’t ask Gerhard to do all that work by himself. He cooks, he washes, he comes with me to the hospital, he drives me to all my appointments, he sits with me through my chemo. He does everything. We are both exhausted”.
Gerhard build Susan a Bali bed on the veranda so she can be outside when she feels tired or sick. “Just looking at the garden gives me pleasure. It gives me an immense pleasure. Soon, when the boardwalk is fixed as well, I can go down and wonder around in my own yard again. Such bliss. I am so grateful for today.“
