Awesome - Woman Finds Odd Item In Late Father's Pocket 10 Years After His Passing
For Katie Diaz, grieving the loss of a parent was no easy feat. When the pain of his death was fresh, she avoided the emotional decisions — visiting his house, deleting his number from her phone. At some point, she knew, the aching would stop, and she could explore what he left behind. She was right, though it took a decade for her to finally dig through all he left behind, and to find a "treasure" in a long-forgotten shirt pocket.
A Beaming Light
Katie Diez, a pediatric occupational therapist, lives to help others. She's a beaming light in a sea of flickering bulbs, and she spreads her joy for life to each person she meets. “My cup is completely full,” she said in 2020. But it wasn't always that way.
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A Rough Year
See, Katie lost her father to cancer in 2006. As you can imagine, it was the year her bulb flickered, and eventually went out. She was crushed, and she couldn't bring herself to get rid of his shirts. She remembered just how spiffy he looked in them.
Button-Up Shirts
Katie knew she couldn't keep everything that was once his, but she tucked away a bunch of polos and dress clothes, promising herself she'd look at them when she was ready. Though she wasn't ready to take them out of hiding, Katie brought her dad's shirts with her when her and her family moved.
Time Flew
Time went by, and Katie's young daughter blossomed into a beautiful, angsty teen. And still, Katie couldn't open the box of shirts, as if the container held his ghost and she couldn't let it out. But something changed in 2016.
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A Decade Later
The year 2016 marked the 10-year anniversary of Katie's father's passing, and she wanted to do something special in his honor. After some brainstorming, Katie decided to use her dad's stowed-away shirts to make quilts for her mother and siblings.
Life From Death
It was the perfect opportunity for Katie to give her dear late father's possessions a new life. A way for his memory to take a fresh physical form. It was a beautiful idea... but she didn't have much sewing or crafting experience.
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Jumping Into It
“But I jump into projects when I decide I want to do something, and I figure it out,” Katie said. And she was ready to do just that. She started off by ironing the shirts, each tear she blinked on the shirts bringing up steam. The clothes smelled just like him.
Whosits and Whatsits
As she examined the fabric of each shirt, Katie found miscellaneous whats-its that had been folded into the fabric for countless years. There were old crumbs of food, lint, even a sticker Katie's daughter had stuck to grandpa's shirt. It warmed Katie's heart. But Katie found something else stuck to her dad's shirt, something that caught her attention.
Decade-Old Tomato Seeds
Attached to one of her father's shirts was a crusty, 10-year-old tomato seed. Katie smiled, as she initially saw the seed as just another symbol of her late dad's sloppiness... until she spotted a second one. The second seed sparked something in Katie, urging her to plant it. Though she didn't have the greenest thumb, Katie learned a bit about gardening from her dad.
A Little Sprout
“A few days after that, a little green shoot came up,” Katie relayed. She catered to the little seed, giving it plenty of water and fertilizer, even purchasing a "grow light" for the seedling. After just a few months, magic happened. “I grew a 10-foot-tall tomato plant in our laundry room," Katie gushed.
Seed Saving
Her new little tomato friend inspired her to become a seed saver. Katie fermented, dried, and stowed away new seeds, growing another tomato plant outside her house the next year. Bringing new life to the world was so fulfilling for Katie, and it gave her an idea.
Gifting Seeds
Katie began gifting the saved seeds to friends who lost dear family members, as they were tiny symbols of life. Katie's father's memory lived in those seeds, and she vowed to continue to spread optimism. She then brought more tomato seeds to a grief camp run by her husband, a therapist, which helps kids who’ve lost loved ones process their pain.
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Comfort Seeds
Soon enough, Katie realized she had a good thing going, solidifying her idea under the name Comfort Seeds. Katie now brings "seeds and stories" to children at the grief camp annually. Not only that, but she mails tomato seeds to friends and strangers alike, all in the name of comforting those who mourn.
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A Children's Book
The idea resonated with many, and Katie wanted to expand on it, so she started writing a children's book. The book, which is still a work in progress as of late 2020, is being illustrated by Oregon-based illustrator Manda Severin, a former psychologist.
Loss and Regeneration
According to Manda Severin, Comfort Seeds "appeals to universal themes of loss and regeneration." Channeling your grief into something physical, something you can help birth, is invigorating. “It’s something that makes you want to put your hands in the soil and figure out a new way to relate to the world," she explained.
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The Happiness Research Institute
Katie's passion project caught the eye of Onor Hanreck Wilkinson, a researcher at Copenhagen’s Happiness Research Institute. The Institute "combines qualitative and quantitative methods to provide insights on the level of well-being, happiness and quality of life," which is something we can get on board with.
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Unrealistic Expectations
The Happiness Research Institute's mission is to "inform decision-makers of the causes and effects of human happiness, make subjective well-being part of the public policy debate, and improve overall quality of life for citizens across the world." But because it centers on happiness, Onor Hanreck Wilkinson said that people have unrealistic expectations of what the Institute does.
The Happiness Museum
“Many people coming to our office probably think it’s a crazy utopia where we have puppies and ice cream,” he said. And though it's not a gleeful, colorful utopia with unicorns and rainbows, the Institute did open the Happiness Museum in July 2020.
A Touching Donation
The Happiness Museum accepted just 18 of the hundreds of donations of items people declared brought them joy. Katie donated a packet of her comfort seeds, which, according to staff, wound up being the standout of the bunch. “We thought it was so touching,” Onor said.
Fun, Magical Things
“A lot of fun, magical things have come forth from that little seed stuck to my dad’s shirt for 10 years,” Katie stated. The Happiness Museum granted Katie Diez with a trip to Denmark to see the exhibit, which she'll embark on once the coronavirus pandemic is over.
An Innocuous Gift
Katie encouraged others to finally explore some of the memories left behind by long ones. She pointed to stories, like one involving Reddit user Innuendoughnut, as proof that a walk through memory lane can change your own life. This user's life changed in a major way after he was gifted his late uncle's treasure chest.
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