The Ninety-Year-Old Gardener and the Kids

Our elementary school has a garden behind the gym, and for the past six years it's been run by a volunteer named Mr. Tanaka, who turned ninety this spring.

He teaches the kids to plant radishes, pull weeds and tell the difference between a ladybug and a beetle. He moves slowly. The kids slow down for him. He's endlessly patient when they dig up the carrots too early to "check on them."

For his ninetieth birthday, the whole school gathered in the garden. Each class planted something for him: sunflowers, a cherry tomato plant, a row of marigolds. The kindergartners made a banner covered in handprints. The fifth graders read a poem they'd written called "Mr. Tanaka Grows Things, Including Us."

He stood there in his old straw hat, nodding, eyes shining. He said, "Gardens teach you that small things become big things." Then he went straight back to work on the radishes.