And…I’m studying horticulture and am working toward owning a plant nursery. Here I am, your “at least one grown woman out there who saw this as a child and decided to become a horticulturist”

I have Cerebral Palsy and use an electric wheelchair, so when I told people that this and Johanna Spyri’s ‘Heidi’ were my favourite books as a kid, I mostly got the response that it was wishful thinking because I’d never walk. Clearly they didn’t know the power of the mind because, while I’m not saying that people should create a culture of self-blame and -guilt around having a disability (that’s a trap I’ve fallen into before and it’s not a fun one!), we do affect our bodies with our emotions and stress makes things worse. Once I felt able to acknowledge the part that I play (however small it may be, according to Western medicine) my adolescent struggles with depression and the physical difficulties that came with it began to get easier, because I changed my thinking. It’s a hard struggle, and it’s been a huge mountain to climb (it still is) but I’m getting there…and learning to walk at the age of twenty. Thank you, Frances Hodgson Burnett.

(Wow, that’s long and rambly – sorry!)