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Bridge to Hope Garden

Houlton, Maine

Their life was fleeting, but Kim Folsom managed last spring to document every quickly passing stage of the pink tulips. From the moment the green shoots came up to the day the pink petals fell to the ground, a span of just about two and a half weeks -- Folsom was at the pink tulip garden in Houlton, taking photographs.

"I was elated," she said. "I was going every day to take pictures to see because I was so excited they were actually popping through the ground."

Three years ago Folsom successfully recovered from breast cancer. At the time, another local woman, Cathy Kennedy, was organizing a walk to raise money for cancer research, and Folsom, who was feeling strong again, got involved. The two women decided the following year that they would organize not just another walk, but also plant gardens to raise cancer awareness with flowers.

With some of the donations garnered from the walk, they bought 500 pink tulip bulbs for a garden near Houlton?s downtown pedestrian footbridge that spans the Meduxnekeag River. They also planted bulbs by the local library and on the grounds of two nearby schools.

"Last spring the tulips bloomed," Folsom said. "We worried all winter they wouldn't. We don't have a green thumb, and were worried if we had done it right."

A helpful but pessimistic friend also warned them that if they planted near the bridge, all the bulbs might wash away down the riverbanks in the rain. But the plants held, and Folsom is now once again making daily trips to the garden, waiting for the tulips to reappear.

Plant hope by supporting the the project.