It was me protecting the one green and growing thing in my life from a place where things did not grow.

And I think, if you have a family like mine, that instinct is worth honoring rather than shaming.

Not everything you love has to be offered up for inspection to people who have only ever inspected you to find you lacking.

Some things you are allowed to keep.

Some gardens you are allowed to grow behind a wall, in private, in peace, until they are strong enough to survive the weather outside it.

Mine was.