by Cindi Clarke

Created on: May 29, 2008   Last Updated: December 10, 2008

My Serenity Garden began as a place for me to get away from the stress of a bad marriage, and turned into a Garden of Celebration where I can celebrate new beginnings for myself and my friends and family. It has been a journey of growth for me and the garden.

When I met Marc, one of the things that attracted me to him was the fact that he came "with child." I've always wanted children, but an abusive marriage and divorce didn't make that happen. I had been thinking of adopting when I met Marc and his son, Ryan, and thought that I would finally get my "happy ending." Ryan was ten when we met and we bonded instantly.

Unfortunately, my "happy" ending came with an ex-wife in tow who did not relish the thought of sharing her "baby" boy. While I thought our marriage would be the beginning of a new life, it was really the beginning of a nightmare that would last two years before I finally ended the marriage. The constant battles between Marc and his ex-wife consumed our marriage and destroyed the relationship I had with Ryan who was forced by his mother to choose between us. The stress of it all nearly destroyed me.

When I realized early in our marriage that it was not going to be a bed of roses, I knew that I needed to create a sanctuary. A place where I could restore my serenity and sanity when the chaos became too much, and the pain from my fibromyalgia was too intense for me to keep a smile on my face. The fibromyalgia was a new condition caused by the stress in our marriage, and I was struggling to learn how to deal with it.

I found the perfect space on the deck off of our master bedroom. It was close enough to allow me to be available to Ryan when he needed a hug of reassurance, but I was still able to close the door and hang my "Go Away - Leave Me Alone - P.S. I Love You" sign on the door when I needed some quiet. I immediately started creating my "Serenity Garden."

Since I had extended the roof over the deck and screened it in a few years prior, it was the perfect space for shade loving plants. I set up four wire shelf units, two at each end of the deck and two against the sliding glass door windows to give it an enclosed feeling. I then hung two long bamboo shades along the screen so that I could roll them up or down depending on the weather or amount of sun hitting the deck. Two resin-wicker chairs and a matching table at one end gave me an inviting area to sit with Marc or Ryan, while at the other end a hammock chair for sitting in and just relaxing. Water fountains

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