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Someone announces, “Have I got a story!” Our ears perk up. We drop what we’re doing, and our curiosity stirs. Who can resist a story? And the stories we tell! Everyday our conversations are laced with scores of stories; we humans are wired for them.

As we age, a tale emerges that is uniquely our own. We not only tell our stories but we become a living story, through our wealth of experience. Realizing that our story is worth telling is one way we find meaning; it is essential to our well-being and self-esteem.

With the guidance of Jon Schum, expressive therapies clinical supervisor, and Carolyn Crotty, Lesley University art therapy intern, a group of ten to twelve residents of Goddard House in Jamaica Plain gathers weekly to share stories. The Story of a Lifetime session may begin with a few simple anecdotes, and before anyone realizes, the stories begin to flow. Or it may begin with a folktale, poem, or a reference to the season or a holiday. Stories are often written down and displayed at Goddard House Skilled Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, along with photographs, artwork, and poetry. You can be sure that stories gathered from lives lived seventy, eighty, or ninety-some years produce a wealth of material!

There are stories about occupations and work, stories about birthplaces and hometowns; growing up and moving on, and stories about travel near and far. Tales emerge out of childhood recollections, historical milestones, family traditions, and memorable moments of struggle, celebration, and achievement.

The group welcomed spring by recalling favorite flowers and “flower-ful” memories, stringing their thoughts and images into a lovely seasonal poem.

What kind of flowers do we see
in springtime?
Orchids? Too cold for them.
Tulips? A nice smell.
Mmm. Smells beautiful.

Magnolias? Are they yellow?
Cherry Blossoms
Smell all through Washington.
I’ll never forget.

Pink. Nice color.
Sometimes red, sometimes blue.
Purple.
Purple violets.

Red roses.
Have thorns – be careful!
Violets can be blue.
Sugar is sweet and so are you.

Flowers – you see them.
But you don’t see them – lovely.

Barbara Woods sits in the country kitchen looking out to blue skies and redtipped branches that hint of spring. Along with other Goddard House residents, she recently attended the flower show, BLOOMS!, sponsored by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. The colorful beauty and fragrant smells evoked memories of her fondness for flowers, the outdoors, and walks taken in the wooded area surrounding her Falmouth home.

Barbara has donated nearly fifty bulbs of daffodils, irises, and narcissus from her Cape Cod garden and many more from her son’s garden to Goddard House in Brookline, where she currently resides. Many are bulbs that her mother had given her. “These flowers are the gift that keeps on giving – they are like family to me!”

Barbara’s eyes sparkle as she speaks of creating arrangements with bare branches from a forsythia bush which, when placed in a large vase of tepid water indoors, were soon covered in yellow blossoms long before the flowers appeared outdoors. Lovely pink lady slippers adorned her wooded grounds in spring, growing naturally in the Cape’s slightly warmer climate. “Once I picked a bud of Siberian iris, placed it in warm water, and watched in awe as it bloomed right before my eyes – like the birth of a newborn. I’m so fascinated by this miracle of flowers. I used to sneak outside in the very early morning hours just to see what was blooming at daybreak. I just might try it here, too!”

What does she like most about gardening? ”It’s good for the soul, good for the body, and good for the mind”. Thank you Barbara Woods, for transplanting yourself and your wonderful flower garden to your appreciative Brookline home.