Why does Ana get involved in the garden?

Ana, an elderly woman, has lived in the neighborhood a long time.  She likes to sit by her window and watch the activity outside. She says,

“I’ve seen history out this window.” (pg 5)

She sees Kim, the little Vietnamese girl, bury something in the empty lot next door. Ana thought Kim might be “mixed up in something she shouldn’t be.” (pg 8)  Having worked for the Parole department for twenty years, Ana thought Kim...

Ana, an elderly woman, has lived in the neighborhood a long time.  She likes to sit by her window and watch the activity outside. She says,

“I’ve seen history out this window.” (pg 5)

She sees Kim, the little Vietnamese girl, bury something in the empty lot next door. Ana thought Kim might be “mixed up in something she shouldn’t be.” (pg 8)  Having worked for the Parole department for twenty years, Ana thought Kim might be burying drugs or a gun.  She was about to call the police, but decided to check it out herself.

When she went down to the lot, she dug up the area where the young girl had been seen. All she found was a white bean.  She found two more beans with roots and suddenly realized that she had done the wrong thing. She had dug up the girl’s garden.

“I felt like I’d read through her secret diary and had ripped out a page without meaning to.” (pg 9)

Since Ana is elderly, there isn’t much she can do.  However, she contacts Wendell, a man who lives on the first floor, and shows him the beans.  He is surprised that the beans even sprouted because Kim planted them too early.  However, Anna tells him,

“But they did…. And it’s up to us to save them.” (pg 13)

Ana watched those beans, and when Kim didn’t show up for four days, she made sure that Wendell watered them. Wendell had some experience with plants.  He dug a trench around one of the plants to hold water.  Kim suddenly arrived, and without speaking a word, Wendell showed her what he had done.  When he returned later, Kim had dug a trench around the other plants.  Then Wendell decided to grow his own garden.  If Ana hadn’t gotten involved, Kim’s little garden probably would have remained just that, her little garden.  Because Ana got involved, Wendell got involved, the garden grew, and others joined them. Although Ana did not have her own garden, in many ways, she was responsible for the whole garden.