How Service Opened My Mind & Heart: Lessons From Nate’s Garden
Elisa and Co-Executive Director Paula Paoli in 2013
When I first came to Plenitud PR through a Service Learning trip in college, I had absolutely no idea how much my life would be transformed in just a week with the organization. I landed in Las Marías on my 21st birthday in 2013, a seemingly happy coincidence. I say this because the way that I found out about Plenitud PR was slightly unconventional; though I see now, ten years later, that it was no coincidence - just a return to home and my soul family.
I am an Eckerd College graduate and in my time there, I befriended a cute, hilarious, and beautifully awkward boy named Nate. Nate became a quick and close friend who I enjoyed spending time with and even more so, loved pushing his buttons. In 2012, Nate went to Plenitud PR for a spring break service trip through the college, and he shared with me the joy he found in working on the farm in Puerto Rico. I will never forget walking side by side with him on our way to the Psychology department as he shared his experience with me and planted a small seed in the back of my mind, but firmly in my heart, that would one day become an entire garden of love and service.
Three weeks after Nate’s trip, he tragically died in a car accident. Nate’s death was my first experience of losing someone suddenly, and also someone who wasn’t old or sick. In my grief, I found various ways to honor Nate’s memory and feel close to him. At some point close to his death, Plenitud PR decided to start a garden in honor of Nate’s memory. This act was also a loving call to me from my brothers and sisters at the farm to learn, love, and heal. My school offered a trip the following year and I knew I wanted to go to honor Nate’s memory, and find healing of my own.
Nate during his time at Plenitud PR in the river (left) and working in the garden (right).
To say that this act of service changed my life would be an understatement. Arriving at Plenitud PR felt like arriving home. I was greeted by people who treated me like I was family, who shared my desire to honor Nate, and who were working tirelessly to create a life driven by the purpose of service. For one of the first times in my life, I felt fully understood by just showing up and being myself. I felt less alone in my desire for interconnectedness and understanding. Although I came to grieve, I left with so much more than a lessened heartache.
Working in Nate’s Garden was an act that allowed me the space to openly grieve Nate, honor his memory, and give back in a way that I felt suited Nate’s memory well. In the entry way of the farm, there is a plaque that bears a Thomas Campbell quote that reads: “To live in the hearts we leave behind is not to die.” This is what Nate’s living garden represents.
The garden has seen the hands of hundreds, if not thousands, who have given their loving service in memory of Nate. Although this is “Nate’s garden,” it is really a garden for anyone’s memory who we have loved and lost. It has received service in memory of so many who have left this physical earth, and through the combined efforts of love and service, this garden sings of its beauty in a manner that is proud, yet not arrogant.
Different student groups have worked in the garden, including Eckerd University (Elisa and her fellow classmates in the first photo), University of St. Thomas, Drexel University, George Washington University, and University of San Diego.
What I know is that through this garden, and through the effort of so many selfless individuals, Nate’s memory will live forever. This garden is a place where every emotion under the sun can be felt, and it provides a safe and tranquil place to succumb to and express those feelings. Love, grief, anger, joy, nostalgia, and peace are a few of those feelings I have personally felt while sitting in the garden and meditating. This is a place of healing. This is a place of love. Although the garden is a beautiful spectacle of colors and life, it is truly the intention to care for it in honor of our loved ones that makes it such a special and magnificent place.
Love is the highest frequency, and the best way to show love is through service.
After many years of studying, learning, and sharing, it is obvious to me that there is one thing that truly matters, and that is love. Love is the only thing we can bring on our return trip. It’s the only thing that you can have that can ultimately make you richer than any billionaire. Love is the highest frequency, and the best way to show love is through service. Service is the ultimate act, and I have never met people who emulate such a daring spectacle of radical, unconditional, and accepting love as I have from my brothers and sisters at Plenitud PR.
Paula, a classmate, and Elisa working in Nate’s Garden.
The love that Plenitud PR has shared with me has not only opened my heart to something bigger than I could have imagined and made me want to dedicate my life to service, it has given me a sanctuary where I feel understood and have learned what the true definition of loving service means. I am so proud of mis hermanos who work tirelessly to give back to the local community of Puerto Rico, to the people who grace their farm from afar, and to their ability to honor the earth in this way. This has gifted me not only peace with Nate’s passing and a love for service, but an even greater love through my Plenitud PR family. The gratitude and abundance I feel from being a part of this community isn’t easily formulated into words, but ten years later the feeling continues to live in each one of us - and binds us closer together.
Nate’s memory is pure love and I am so grateful that a space exists for people to come and share their service, love, time, and emotions and to help them feel less alone in the process of grief. We all eventually leave the physical body we were born into, but through acts of service and love, our memories continue to live on forever.
