Member-only story
This is The Work That Matters
I’m proud of my daughter for choosing meaningful work
My daughter Emily wears soft leather gardening gloves crusted with dirt when she starts her day at 7:00 am. Since April, she’s been working at a small orchard that hosts weddings all spring, summer, and fall.
In addition to neat lines of apple trees, the venue has lovely gardens where couples dressed like royalty stand beside bright beds of snapdragons, Zinnias, and Fuscia. They smile blissfully into a future that is filled with beautiful things made for their enjoyment by people like Emily.
Since she was 15, Emily’s been teaching herself how to make things grow. By the time she was 18, she turned this obsession into a paying job.
She worked at a supermarket and garden center during high school, starting as a cashier ringing up groceries and eventually moving into the greenhouse where she developed a love of houseplants. She watered and potted and treated the exotic plants for pests. She nurtured them, learning to keep them alive.
But working in retail is a slog, no matter how many gorgeous plants surround you. Emily felt trapped indoors and frustrated as she watched people come and go with carts full of plants meant for gardens she’d never see.
