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UNSUNG HERO
'Out to the garden she goes' to tend flowers
By Matthew Anderson
For The Sun
For many years, Van and Lydia Vanderstaay enjoyed the peripatetic lives of retired adults. Every winter, they loaded up their Airstream trailer, left their home in Seabeck, and trekked to Indio in Southern California. They fished, played golf and visited their daughter.
And every spring, upon their return home, they noticed that something about their house was distinctly different. On every spare patch of earth, it seemed, vegetation was in full bloom. Daffodils and tulips wreathed the house in motley splendor. The carrots and cabbages in Lydia's vegetable garden grew fat and ripe. Throughout the property, the variegated foliage evinced in great quantity the time and dedication that Lydia had devoted to her yard.
Five years ago, Van suffered a stroke, and the couple soon decided to forego their usual trips to warmer climes and take up residence at Canterbury Manor in East Bremerton. However, nothing about Lydia's daily habits has changed.
"When she first came here no one seemed too interested in the flowers outside," says Van, 91. "She talked to the activities person, and asked 'Can I help?' Of course, now she is doing all of it. But she's always loved gardening, always loved plants and flowers. When she gets uptight, out to the garden she goes."
Despite being 87, Lydia does indeed take care of all the retirement community's flowers, often spending up to two hours per day digging through the dirt or shopping for new plants.
"While Van's buying fishing gear," she says, "I'm buying flowers."
As she walks around the manicured grounds at Canterbury, Lydia explains that professional gardeners handle the lawns, trees and shrubs, but the flowers are her domain.
Standing at the building's main entrance, Lydia points to a row of planter boxes.
"I started out with these eight plants," she says, laughing. "But all of a sudden, someone bought these primroses."
Lydia points to some flowers hanging near the door.
"Then I had to take care of these two boxes," she says, eyeing additional flowerbeds near the parking lot.
"And if you'll just walk over here ..."
Around the corner of the building, nestled among rhododendrons, lie several more of Lydia's charges.
And yet, with all her responsibilities, Lydia refrains from imploring other residents to share in her duties.
"I have asked," she says, "but they all just poop out."
Lydia doesn't get paid for her work, but that's OK with her.
"I figured I had a luxury," she says. "It's my contribution to the community."
Every resident at Canterbury tries to help out in some capacity, she says, and if she can proffer her time and energy in a way that she so thoroughly enjoys, she's happy.
She and her husband walk almost three miles every day, and go dancing in Port Orchard on the weekends.
Having been married for 63 years, they still delight in each other's company. But when Van goes fishing, Lydia needs to occupy her time as well.
So, she grabs her bucket of spades and trowels, dons her brown gardening frock — unless it's Sunday, of course, in which case she wears her special green and white one — and "out to the garden she goes."
Matthew Anderson is a contributing writer for The Sun. Reach editor JoAnne Marez at (360) 792-9208 or at jamarez@thesunlink.com.
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