Let there be sunflowers

I went into the projects. I went there to see the grandmother of a client on death row. She had basically raised him and she's the starting point to the rest of the family. The project where she lived was all too typical: beigish concrete walls and brown trim in need of a paint job. Any grass was non-existent, giving the whole area a colorless, lifeless, just depressing feel. As I drove further into the projects, all around me was just more dirt and concrete. As I got closer to the address I was looking for, there was a bed of dazzling sun flowers in front of one unit. It was so diametrically opposed to everything around it. The sunflower garden seemed to be one tenant's very public statement of hope. As I drove closer, I realized that the sunflowers were in the yard of my client's grandmother. Visions of a cold glass of lemonade danced in my mind. It was just such a treat that for once I was not going to the unit with the broken windows and bullet holes in the walls. As I parked the car and walked up the sidewalk, I determined that the address where I was going was actually two doors down from the glorious sunflower garden. Oh well.

Despite outward appearances, I've found the projects contain lots of life, hope and plans for a better future. The positive aspects often fight a losing war against the crime and poverty. It was nice to see the sunflowers fighting such a valiant battle.