Seedfolks Epilogue Summary

Seedfolks Epilogue: Sam & Mr. Myles

This is the story of Mr. Myles and Sam three years after the last gathering at the community garden. Mr. Myles has died during another stroke and his life has flashed before his eyes. Meanwhile, Sam is planning a funeral for him, and has invited the seedfolks to attend. The paragraphs alternate between Sam and Mr. Myles narrating. First is Sam then Mr. Myles. Then Sam is narrating again, and then Mr. Myles, and so on.

It has been three years since the first plant grew in the garden. It’s a shame everyone has moved on. But I, Sam, have a plan. Hopefully the plan will bring everyone back together. It will be a sad occasion, however it can turn into a happy event where we celebrate life.

Although I would love to be alive, it is a bit of a

relief that I am dead. For example, I get to see my wife and three children. Also, Nora was super kind, but she couldn’t understand what I needed because I could not communicate with her. Enough about all this junk. You probably want to hear about my wife and kids. When we were going to visit family in Utah for the holidays, our car was struck by an eighteen wheeler. My wife, Emily Myles, was killed by the impact and my son was too. An ambulance came and rushed my two daughters and me to the hospital. I felt responsible for their deaths and have always wished to relive that day to make it better and somehow avoid the truck, but I knew that was impossible and instead was miserable because the people I cared about most were dead. Anyway, I get to see them now. The angels told me I could see them once I stepped through the gateway to heaven.
The funeral invitations are done and all that’s left to do is mail them to the community gardeners, Amir, Kim, Lateesha, Maricela, Ana, Wendell, and Gonzalo. Ah, but I could not forget Tío Juan, Leona, Royce, Virgil, Sae Young, Curtis, Nora, and Florence. My wife thinks I should post notices on the telephone poles for the whole city to see, “Sam, don’t you think it would be nice if the whole city was invited? Everyone should be able to come if they would like.” I thought about it, and realized she was right. As a result, I made over 100 posters to post on every street corner. It is scheduled to be on Saturday and is going to be in the garden. As part of the service, we will all plant flowers to revive the garden in memory of Mr. Myles. He loved the garden.
I got into gardening when I was a little boy.

Looking out the window, I spotted my grandmother planting beautiful orchids and dahlias. They swayed in the soft spring breeze as she danced around them, sprinkling droplets of water on their petals. From that moment on, my dream had been to create a garden of my own. The next Saturday, instead of going to the market, I bought seeds, a shovel, watering can, and soil. When I reached home, I started right away on my garden. It was behind the house in a sunny place. About an hour passed and my flowers were all planted. I called my new garden “Ted Myles’ Garden of Smiles”. That was a pretty clever name, huh? After waiting for a few months, I learned my lesson. Never plant in a super sunny spot. I found this out in a very sad way. My flowers never grew. The seeds just sat there under the ground. I watered them, fertilized the soil, watered them again, and yet they still sat there in the soil, still as a statue. But I kept trying, planting seed after seed, determined to receive just a glimpse of green appear over the soil. Finally, a month later, my tulips grew. I took great care of them, making sure they didn’t die, but everything must die

eventually.
It is the day of the funeral, and everyone came! Pots of flowers are set on a table by the gate for each attendee to take and plant when told to. The service was not your average funeral. Instead of having a priest, each person said a few words and when they finished, they planted their flower. Maricela was first. “First, I’d like to thank Sam for planning this for Mr. Myles. What a kind man he is.” I blushed. All of the speeches were very touching. I only cried one hundred times.
My life was a very bumpy road. There were many ups and downs, but I go through it. I am happy with how my life went. Afterall, nobody is perfect. When I had my last stroke, and my life flashed before my eyes, I realized that I had had a great life. Even though my last few breaths took place during that moment, I was not scared to go. All my life I was afraid to die. But at that second, I knew it was time. I just breathed and then the angels took me.
The service was not too long and once everyone had gone, I couldn’t bring myself to leave. This garden brought a whole community together. Now everyone has moved on with their lives and I’m the only one left here. But what I fear is that if I leave, all the memories will disappear. I don’t want this to be the end of the seedfolks community. It won’t be. I’ll make sure of it. Well, the day has almost come to an end, so I must go. But first I’d like to say goodbye to Mr. Myles. I knelt on the grass, and closed my eyes, “Mr. Myles, you were part of our garden community and we loved it that way. Your presence will be greatly missed, although we know you are in a better place now. I will continue to garden for you. I will bring together the new community for you. We will be kind for you. Goodbye Mr. Myles, we’ll miss you”.