Providence St. Peter Foundation - Healing Garden

Joy Johnston is such an inspiring person it is totally impossible to not be happy when she’s around. The first name “Joyfully” of this campaign obviously is taken from her name with the emotion attached, which is completely appropriate.

The second part of the name is going to take a lot more explanation ………….here goes:

It all strted a coupleyears ag when she an her husband Josh and their young son went “fishing” for Dungeness crab with her Mom and Dad in law for the first time. You know how it goes (or can imagine), beautiful day, wonderful time, and caught lots of crab. They came home and had a wonderful time cleaning, cooking, eating, and relishing the afterglow of such a wonderful day.

It was such a wonderful time that she wrote a poem that describes it better than I ever could…….

Bounty

The world is still, quiet

And we are gently rocking

Above and around it is blue: mountains and sky

And white: snowcaps and jet streams

We are far from shore and farther from the city

Waters of jade and emerald curl around our boat

Dark, opaque, lifeless

But that is a deception.

Wedged between water and sky, we could believe

We are the only creatures enjoying the pleasures of a sunny day.

Yet even as the motor roars to life

Even as we weave rainbows in our wake

We are conscious that the salt we breathe and collect on our faces

Is only borrowed.

Below us are whole civilizations

Darting, swimming

Scampering across rocks

Sliding across sand

Speckled sanddabs, quillback rockfish

Harbor seals, urchins

Limpets, mussels, seaperch and sharks.

We know this because as we lift the baskets rom the seafloor

To reveal Dungies in our traps

Evidence of life clings to our ropes and pots:

Magenta jellyfish tentacles

Chartreuse eelgrass and kelp

Sunflower seastars of tangerine and plum.

So much life hauled to our boat

Like the Salish who began this sea harvest long ago

Back to our ancestors

On the sundrenched shores of the Mediterranean

On the frigid waters of the North Sea

Pull by pull

The wet rope coils at our feet

Until we bring the disoriented creatures to the surface

Measure their size

Wrestle them as they claw

Determine who is worthy of coming home.

I see their tiny eyes watching us

We are not a new foe

We have met over miles

Over centuries

Over generations

Later, we will gorge on tangled berries

We will light a fire

We will drink wine

We will watch the stars above the lake

Our bellies full

Our hearts warm

And our limbs ready to sleep.

As I look to the distant shore while my son sleeps safely in his nonna’s arms

I know

This food

This family

This love

Will sustain us long after

Our hard shells are thrown spinning

Back to sea.

Joy Johnston

July 9, 2012

……………Back to the story.

After contracting that dreaded disease, breast cancer, she thought about it and decided she needed a symbol to help overcome the hardships and trials she and her family would face. It was decided that it would be a Dungeness crab, not any crab mind you, but a female crab. Female crabs are special, not only do they provide the world with more baby crabs but they are especially mean and tenuous and will fight and bite worse than anything in the sea. To add to the symbolism of all of this the astrological symbol for cancer is a CRAB. What more appropriate symbol to have on your side in a fight?

PLEASE COME JOIN OUR BOOSTER GROUP BY PURCHASING A T-SHIRT OR SWEATSHIRT AND SHARE THE SUPPORT FOR JOY AND HER FAMILY BY BEING JOYFULLY CRABBY TOO!

Proceeds go toward the Healing Garden for cancer patients at Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia (where Joy lives). This outdoor rooftop area on the 3rd floor of the hospital will provide direct access to nature and a healing environment for patients and their families. The approximately 3,000 square foot area is intended to enhance patients’ well-being, while demonstrating a commitment to spiritual and emotional health. Including design, materials and construction, the project is estimated at $200,000, plus ongoing maintenance. Joy learned about the garden after a three-day stay in the hospital in December. Appreciative of the care she received, she wanted to do something to give back to her community and provide for others in their own cancer journey.