When Cathy Minter lost her leg in December of 2018, she said her will to live went with it. But it was the love of gardening that brought her joy.

The day after Christmas 2018, Minter underwent surgery to remove her right leg due to complications with deep vein thrombosis and diabetes.

“I was ready to give up after I lost my leg. I was in a dark place. And I prayed for God to take me. But God wasn’t ready for me,” Minter said.

Just two years after her surgery, she and her husband of 30 years began divorce proceedings and in January of 2021 she moved into an apartment at New Boston Property Management. She said she needed something to fill her days.

That’s when she said she decided to begin her flower garden.

“I prayed for God to give me something, because I worked two or three jobs all my life. I prayed for something that I could do because nobody wants to just sit in a wheelchair all the time. He gave me the ability to do this,” Minter said.

At the start of spring, Minter gets out of her wheelchair and into the dirt every season to work the land and begin preparations for what she plans to plant that year to go alongside the variety of perennial plants already rooted.

“Leaning over is hard, so I’ve got a tarp and I lay it on the ground so I can get down there without hurting so much,” she said. “It takes a lot of work, but it passes a lot of time, too. I don’t like to sit in the house.”

Minter has previously won yard of the month from the Dogwood Garden Club because of her front yard oasis.

Her flower bed is filled with a variety of flowers and small trees that she has planted herself. And she said people stop by just to admire all the different flowers and colors she proudly displays.

She said growing her garden allowed her to beautify her space and commune with God.

“It’s a peace for me. When I’m working in this … that’s when I feel closest to God and I know that he did not forsake me,” she said.