28

THE NEXT WEEKEND MOM WAKES ME BEFORE SUNRISE. We usually sleep in on the weekends, but that isn’t the strange part. Her hair is covered with a bandanna, and she’s wearing a pair of Grampa’s gray coveralls.

I sit up and rub my eyes. “Mom, Halloween was last weekend.”

“Very funny,” she says. “These things are actually really comfortable.” She does a little spin, stretches her leg out, and gently kicks my mattress. “Come on. We’ve got a lot to do.”

Mom and I cooked up a plan to surprise Grampa and have been working out the details all week. We pull into the driveway of his house just as the sun lights the sky in pinks and oranges. She kills the engine and asks, “Are you ready?”

I sigh and nod. I haven’t been inside Grampa’s house since he was hospitalized. Mom and I spend about an hour loading the car with some of Grampa’s favorites, including his records, the record player, and his marble collection. As we carry out the final load, I look back at the hallway still lined with shelves. Since Grampa’s not here, it doesn’t really feel the same, but I think I’ll ask him if I can keep his miscellaneous shelf. I walk out trying to remember what Grampa’s heart needs most, and that it isn’t this place anymore.

Mom and I head to the backyard just as Amanda drops off Jasper with a box of donuts. Then we really get to work.

We take the six wooden pallets that Grampa and I salvaged from SiteOne Landscape Supply back in the summer. Jasper removes every other wooden slat, and Mom and I attach landscaping fabric along the back, folding and stapling it so that the thick black material makes a pocket between each board.

It only takes about twenty minutes to make one. But by the time we’ve made six, we’re all ready for a break. Jasper props each one up along Grampa’s garage.

“Now how are we going to get them there?” I ask.

Mom smiles. “It’s taken care of,” she says as a bright yellow truck rumbles into Grampa’s driveway.

“Archie!” I run over to give Archie a hug. “I didn’t know you were coming.”

“I wouldn’t miss it.” Archie’s wearing a button-up and cardigan with dark dress shoes. He glances over at Mom and whispers, “Though I may be a bit overdressed.”

I laugh as Mom and Jasper begin to load Archie’s truck with all our pallets. After a quick stop by the garden supply store, we head over to Whispering Pines.

Jasper’s mom and a few of the nurses come out and help us carry each pallet through the first floor and lean them up against the fence in the garden area. Then Mom, Jasper, and I get to work filling them with soil while Archie goes up to the second floor to distract Grampa and his new friends with leftover donuts.

Mom clenches her hands under her chin, takes in a huge breath, and looks at what we’ve made. “Well, I better go get him.” She gives me a little nudge with her hip. “He’s going to love it.”

The French horn now holds a big mound of purple ornamental cabbage and sits nestled in a corner, and a few of the teapot planters are centerpieces on the tables. Jasper’s mom worked everything out with the administrators of Whispering Pines; they even gave us some money for plants. We couldn’t bring Grampa’s whole yard, but what’s important is it feels the same.

When the double doors open, it’s not just Grampa. Mr. Curtis pushes Mrs. Wingfield, and Grampa and Toni walk in holding hands and make their way over to where Jasper and I stand. Then staff members and residents file out, and before long it seems like the whole second floor is there.

I point to the pallets. “It’s called vertical gardening. There’s no need for much digging or bending over really, so it’s easier on the back and knees. We can add more pallets in the spring, but I checked at the garden store and there are a few things that will grow all through an Oklahoma winter.” I motion to the plants. “Carrots, radishes, white potatoes, and onions.”

I’ve never seen Grampa cry, but he wipes his cheek as he steps forward and wraps me in a hug. Grampa nods toward Mrs. Wingfield, who’s wheeled over to a pallet with Mr. Curtis and already started working on a row of radishes. Grampa sniffles a little and says, “You know, this place, and my new friends, they can’t replace your gramma. But it’s been a long time since I’ve been this happy.”

I swallow hard. “I don’t think I was worried about Gramma being replaced. I know it’s silly, but I thought without our treasure hunts, that maybe I was.”

Grampa shakes his head. “Not possible. Nothing in this whole world could do that.” He hugs me again before saying, “What you’ve done today is special. It lets us share something we love with everyone here.” He looks over at Mom. “I think maybe we both kept too much to ourselves.”

After a while, the staff brings out coffee and tea, and people settle at tables while some work on planting.

Toni sits next to Grampa, with Archie on his other side. Mom and Jasper sit next to me.

“You know what I was thinking?” Grampa says. “We maybe can’t do the dumpster dives anymore, but what about garage sales? Now that I’m approved for day passes, I could help. Plus, the really good stuff goes fast. Sometimes, you have to get there before the sun is up. You know what that means?”

I smile and so does Grampa. “Headlamps!” we say at the same time, and everyone laughs.

Grampa points to each of us sitting around the table and then to himself. “With all of us searching, who knows what treasures await.”

I look at our pallets, some already planted and peppered with green sprouts, and think about all of us sitting there together, all connected by this moment. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, and I don’t have to open my heart to see if anything calls to it. For once, I feel like my heart has found everything it needs.