Don’t Give Up

Rosie looked at her garden patch and sighed. A few brown leaves fluttered in the wind and piled against the dead sunflower stalk. “I wish I never grew a garden. Then I wouldn’t have to clean it up,” Rosie muttered, as she pulled at a stubborn bunch of dry grass.

“Nice looking grass,” Chad teased as he came by with a rake. “I didn’t know you were growing hay in your garden.”

“I wasn’t!” Rosie said, glaring at her big brother. “It just grew here.”

Chad looked surprised. “Really? Well then, it was nice of you to take care of it….” Rosie threw the clump of grass at his boots. Chad became serious. “I’m sorry for teasing, but what were you growing in your garden?”

Rosie didn’t answer. She thought of the little green plants she had cared for in the spring. Having a garden had seemed so fun back then. But when summer came…. Rosie looked down at her cucumber vine surrounded by weeds. One fat yellow cucumber poked out between the grass. She reached down and picked it up.

“I planted some flowers and cucumbers and a tomato plant… but I think they all died,” she told Chad in a small voice.

“I guess it is easier to start a garden than to finish it, huh, Posie? At least you can save the cucumber seeds for next year,” he said, cheerfully.

“I don’t want to grow a garden ever again,” Rosie said. “It never grows nice like yours or Irene’s.”

“Maybe you just need to learn to stick to things more,” Chad said with a smile. “If you don’t give up, you can grow a better garden next year. Pull out all the plants and then Daniel and I can bring you a bunch of leaves to tuck it in for the winter.”

So Rosie was left alone again. Tug. Tug. A few tall weeds came out easily, but when she grabbed the cucumber vine it pricked her. Ouch! She was about to leave it there when she saw a little round puff ball caught underneath it. Puff balls were so fun to smash! I know what I’ll do, Rosie told herself. I’ll get a hoe and chop out that old vine! No excuses. It has to come out anyway.

The vine came loose with one tug of the hoe. Rosie smiled. Don’t give up, she told herself. She picked up the puff ball and put it in her pocket to save for later. She would do her work first.

Chop. Chop. Rosie was getting cold and tired. “Where did all these weeds come from anyway?” Rosie muttered to herself. She remembered her nice little garden in the spring. What had Mom said? Pull the weeds out when they are little or they will grow. Rosie looked around at her garden patch. There were only a few weeds left in the corner by the sunflower stalk now, but they looked like the biggest and most prickly. Rosie put her cold hands in her pocket and felt the puff ball. Don’t give up.

The weeds were just as terrible as Rosie thought they would be. She was chopping them up with the hoe when Dad came by. “It is looking good,” he said as he stood watching her, “but you’d better get those roots out if you don’t want them growing back.”

Rosie sighed. She felt like crying. Dad didn’t know how hard she had been working. How would she ever get those roots out of the ground? “My fingers are cold,” she said in a sad little voice.

Dad laid a hand on her shoulder. “You can do it if you don’t give up,” he said, giving her a shovel.

Rosie brushed back a tear and slowly began to dig. She wouldn’t give up. Dad said she could do it, and so she must.

Soon only the tall sunflower stalk remained. Rosie grabbed it with both hands and pulled. The sunflower hardly moved. “You—will—come—out,” Rosie puffed as she shook it. She looked up at the round flower-top hanging over her. A few gray seeds still clung to its face like a little smile. Rosie liked sunflower seeds better than puff balls, and so she began to pull again.

“Is it too hard for you?” Chad asked, as he came by with a wheelbarrow of leaves.

Rosie didn’t answer. With one last heave she felt the stalk come loose in her hands. “No, I got it!” she called to her brother. “I’m ready for the leaves now.”

At dinner time Rosie gave Mom the sunflower seeds to roast in the oven. “Where did you get these?” Mom asked. “I didn’t know that we had any sunflowers in the garden.”

“I did,” Rosie said, warming herself by the wood stove. She was very tired. It felt good to be inside. It felt good to sit down. It felt good to know her garden patch was all “tucked in for the winter.”

Soon everyone was called to the table. “Thank you, Lord, for strength to finish up our work today,” Dad prayed. “Bless this food to nourish our bodies. Amen.” He smiled around at the family. “Good job everyone who helped finish up the yard work today. It looks much better.”

Rosie looked across the table at her big brother. “Thank you for helping me, Chad,” she said.

“You’re welcome. It always feels great to finish things we’ve begun,” he said.

“That reminds me of some projects the girls need to finish up,” said Mom. “Irene and Rosie have knitting to work on.”

Rosie thought of the blue scarf that lay in the knitting basket. It had looked so easy when Irene was making one, but hers seemed to take so long. “Do I have to finish it?” she asked.

Mom smiled. “Let’s not give up, dear. I know you will be glad when you get it done. Weren’t you making it to give to Grandpa Coleman?”

“Yes, but…” Rosie stopped. Her hand had touched something in her pocket. It was the puff ball. Don’t give up, it seemed to say. Rosie pulled it out and smashed it between her fingers.

“What was that?” Irene asked.

“Just a puff ball that I found in the garden,” Rosie said. Then she smiled at her big sister. “Can you help me with my knitting? I want to learn to knit fast like you do.”

“Sure. After we do the dishes,” Irene agreed.

“And after we enjoy the sunflower seeds Rosie grew for us,” Mom said, pulling the pan from the oven.

“Sunflower seeds? Yum!” Chad said. “Just think—you did get something from your garden after all.”

“Because I didn’t give up,” Rosie whispered.