‘I was in tears the entire time I wrote it’: B.C. widow pens letter to plant thief

Adam meets a Victoria woman who is gardening through grief—and her surprising message to the person who stole a trio of her planters.

VICTORIA, B.C. — After spending countless hours digging in her garden—Laura Mason never imagined she’d find a bunch of flowers taken out of it.

“All of sudden it was like, ‘Oh my goodness! One of my planters is gone,’” Laura recalls thinking, before she realized three more were also missing.

That’s four planters total—although the meaning behind them was immeasurable.

“My garden is my sacred space that I’ve been tending to my grief in,” Laura says.

You see, Laura started planting her grief garden after suffering three consecutive losses: her cat, her dad, and her husband.

“I felt like a piece of me was taken away,” Laura says. “When somebody takes away from something that special, it hits extra hard.”

So, after a security camera captured video of somebody taking all the plants, Laura’s friends suggested she fight back extra hard.

“Everybody was like, ‘We got to name and blame. We got to shame this person. This is insane,’” Laura says.

So, after a week of feeling sad, Laura started writing a message to the person to post on the neighbourhood community page.

“I was in tears the entire time I wrote it,” Laura says. Her message included, “I hope these flowers bring you joy.”

Then, instead of vilifying the thief, Laura invited them to visit her and offered to buy them their own plants.

“I’d be happy to help them start their own garden,” Laura smiles.

Because although she condemned what the person did, Laura felt compassion for why they may have done it.

“Just assume everyone is going through something difficult,” Laura says. “And be kind to each other.”

But, for whatever reason, the moderators of the community page didn’t post Laura’s message that day.

“I was like, ‘It wasn’t meant to be. I’ll just leave it,’” Laura says. “And then I was completely surprised.”

Because a week later, the message was posted. Laura was inundated with positive feedback on what would have been her husband’s 40th birthday.

“I blame my husband,” Laura smiles. “I absolutely think he was sprinkling a little love for me when he couldn’t be here for me, so he rallied the community.”

And whether she receives a response from the person who stole her plants or not, Laura is already starting to feel like a garden beginning to bloom after a long winter.

“Forgiveness is an incredible tool,” Laura says. “Your world opens up and becomes lighter and brighter.”