Sowing Seeds on Nantucket

As I sat down to pen this last night, I found myself contemplating this “sowing seeds” concept on a deeply personal level. We laid my mother-in-law to rest yesterday afternoon and gathered family to celebrate her life in the home overlooking almost 15 acres of manicured lawn and gardens that she and my father-in-law lovingly tended for almost 40 years. Even on a frigid snowy winter day it was easy to see the years of love and investment that had been put into those gardens. It’s something she was able to enjoy during her lifetime, but it’s also something long standing…an investment that will be enjoyed by many others for generations to come.

Nantucket is famous for sowing seeds of all kinds. The town forefathers and local residents work tirelessly to help ensure that decisions and investments made today will both preserve the integrity and original design of the island, but also will help propel Nantucket forward…making it an ongoing place of prosperity and opportunity. There are multiple organizations, like PASCON, that sow seeds of a different kind.  They invest directly in the lives and the people of Nantucket…purposing to ease the burdens of friends and neighbors who aren’t able to sow their own seeds or who simply need assistance to do what they can. Still others quietly come alongside local organizations or individuals and extend a helping hand…volunteering, fundraising or sometimes just offering an encouraging word.  All of it making a difference.

If you’re lucky enough to find yourself on the Cisco Bike Path this spring when all those newly planted daffodil bulbs have wiggled their way through Mother Earth and are framing it in a sea of yellow…pause and consider what each of those flowers represents. The lives that were lovingly cared for by PASCON, the selfless efforts of those who planted the bulbs and the many friends, neighbors, island guests and complete strangers who will find joy in them for years to come.  Then join me in asking the big question – what seeds can I plant today that will make a difference in someone’s life tomorrow?

Sow and Reap

Shellie Dunlap