The Charles Madison Nabrit Memorial Garden

by Paula Penn-Nabrit
R3 Contributor

I was never great with numbers but lately I’ve been calculating like mad. 365 days ago CMadison died beautifully and peacefully at home, alone with me. I’m sad and still adjusting to his absence because we were married for 36 years, 8 months and 22 days. I miss him, but I’ll be missing him for the rest of my life even though I can’t calculate how long that will be. In the meantime, yesterday as I watched Evan, our youngest son, receive his MFA from UPenn with our eldest sons, Charles and Damon, in support and celebration I thought what a blessed life I have lived so far. Looking at our sons as they continue to blossom I see the perpetuation of the perennials CMadison and I began planting in the sustainable garden of our lives over 30 years ago.

We were blessed to come from strong families of well-lived and multi-generational love and commitment. Growing up in American families of the African diaspora, CMadison and I knew the stories and songs, the struggles and successes of our parents and grandparents and our aunts and uncles- and their parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles. We are products of generations of prayers and groanings in the spirit that produced strong stock and good seed. Seed that survived the Middle Passage, chattel slavery, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, WWI, the Great Migration, the Depression, WWII, the Civil Rights era and Vietnam.

Our union formed raised beds for the next generation and we filled those beds with the organic soil of our families’ histories and the compost of challenges overcome. From their conception we nurtured that seed, planning always for preservation and sustainability and before their germination was complete we had the necessary structure and stakes in place to guide their growth. As our seedlings emerged we enriched the soil with homeschooling and amended it through an international village and local community service. The future harvests of these perennials promises to be bountiful for generations to come.

And that’s why I’m so certain that the 60 square foot, Charles Madison Nabrit Memorial Garden, with its luscious mix of veggies, fruits and flowers is the ideal way to remember C Madison and contribute something meaningful, tangible, sustainable and reproducible for the larger community. We’ve partnered with Telos Training, Inc. a 501(c)(3) who purchased the seeds and the Church of Christ of the Apostolic Faith who provided the land. Here’s a link to the the garden plan-with exciting details and a listing of the plants. And most importantly, here’s the link to make a contribution cause while we have free labor, yeah, it’s a blessing to have sons and nephews that aren’t just smart & handsome!;) all that organic soil, fencing, composters and rain barrels won’t buy themselves! And back to calculations, this is Region 5 folks-we have a short growing season. So we’re building the beds Saturday, May 24th and planting the week of May 26th and the Grand Opening is June 14th so we need your gifts-well yesterday! Please know that every $10.00 helps-we’re building 40 raised beds so give generously and share widely! Thanks for all the prayers, the kind words and the positive energy extended over the past 365 days. Peace, & Blessings!

Follow Paula on Twitter @paulapennnabrit