What beautiful memories and remarkable people you've all shared. What you said about your Dad giving you your love for nature your mom giving you those guiding words really struck me, Gudrean. Our beloved people give so much of themselves to us, something always stays.
For me, some of the people who came to mind are elders in my life who have come and go. One was a volunteer who came to my school to assist children who needed a little extra help to learn; I still remember her smile and how patient she was. She provided one on one tutoring, and helped me fall in love with reading when it had been such a struggle (a few years and diagnoses later we figured out why 😅).
Another is a very elderly neighbour who let me harvest her annual garden with her in the fall and build snow forts on her lawn in the winter. I had just moved to that part of the country and she was one of my first friends during a very hard time. She's part of the reason why I love to garden now. 🙂