Our last home in New Jersey was in inner-city Trenton. It was not a very nice neighborhood. Nor was it very safe. But Jim was teaching at a charter school for challenged inner-city kids, and it was close to work.

On my front porch I had hanging baskets with purple petunias in them. They always made me happy and made me smile. One morning I went out and one of the baskets was gone!! Someone had stolen it right off the screw that was attached to the porch. So Jim closed the screws so that the baskets couldn’t be removed. Two days later, I woke up and somebody had stolen the rest of the hanging baskets – screws and all!

It was very depressing.

So when we moved to Indiana, I again tried hanging baskets with purple petunias in them. They’re still here. And they still make me smile every time I see them. They also remind me how thankful I am to be living in the country.