Sun streamed in through the only window as I looked around the small room. It wasn’t great but it was all I could afford; I didn’t want to move to the city, and away from home. But after my mom died without warning, I traded in my weekends in the garden for a tiny apartment and a real job.

I opened the first of my two moving boxes and pulled out my bucket with all of my gardening supplies. Not much use here when I don’t have any plants to use them on, I thought bitterly to myself, but I hadn’t been able to leave them behind. When I finished unpacking my few things I was hungry and found my way onto the street.

Suddenly an unexpected smell filled my nose, the smell of soil and flowers. I looked up and saw it: Urban Garden. Unable to resist I jogged across the street. Who am I kidding, I asked myself, I doubt I’d be able to afford anything, and It’s not like I have a garden to plant anything in. But my feet moved me inside the garden shop before I could walk away. Dozens of flowers crowded the narrow aisle. But one caught my eye. I saw a beautiful lilac plant arching gracefully in the air in front of me.

My mind filled with visions of a girl with a lilac crown. With a start, I realized it was me. When I was a kid, my mother and I spent every weekend making flower crowns. Mine was always lilac and hers was always daisies. My hands found the lilac pot.

Lunch was forgotten as I ran home to find a place for my precious plant. The sole window in my apartment filled with light as I walked in the door. Illuminating the perfect place for my lilac plant.

I stepped back, admiring my new decoration. The room felt bigger, and I could almost hear mom’s gentle laugh. I looked at the lilac and I could have sworn it was smiling at me. I smiled back. I had come home.