Lane family

I wrote an article and it was published this week in our Sunday paper about Pop and our garden. Hope you enjoy it!

Giving trees: Garden spurs Milan woman to wellness

Some gardens work like horses, transforming our rich, black soil into food for hungry folks. Others are elegant showpieces, populated with nodding blooms atop sensuous stems.
Still others fill niches you can't exactly see. They find needy places in the human heart and provide green, optimistic vistas. Such is the case with the backyard garden that Paul Lane created for his wife, Barbara, when she was ill.
Mrs. Lane, of Milan, tells the story of her garden best, so here is the letter she sent to The Dispatch and The Rock Island Argus for inclusion in the "My Garden" series:
I would like to offer my husband's garden as a great garden to feature. In November 2001, we moved into our house in Milan. It had no trees and no flowers on the property. In the backyard, a deck opened onto a swimming pool. The backyard was ugly and hot, with lots of concrete and rock around the pool. Two metal sheds sat atop concrete. My husband, who loves flowers and trees, wanted to get rid of the pool. ...
The next summer I was only in the pool about 3 or 4 times because I was so tired every evening when I came home from work that I just wanted to lie down. In November 2002, we discovered why I was feeling so badly. I was diagnosed with breast cancer.
After surgery, my oncologist told me that the cancer was very aggressive. Even with chemotherapy and radiation, my chances of living 10 more years were only 25 percent.
That spring my husband took down the pool and began planting. It was therapy for him and something he could do to be close to me for the days/weeks I was too weak to move from my bed. He put a chair next to the patio doors, and I would sit and watch him plant beautiful flowers and trees. He said for every tree he planted, I would get another year of life. Our property now has 34 trees! (The kids tease me that they are going to come over and cut down some trees because they have me up to 88 years of life.)
The yard is a work in progress. Each year he extends the flower beds, adding more flowers and trees. This year he broke up the concrete from one of the sheds and planted a vegetable garden. ...
Not only is this a beautiful garden, but it is a garden made with love. It is my husband's gift to me to encourage me to keep on living. So far, I'm 5-1/2 years cancer-free.
Thank you,
Barbara Lane