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Visit American Folk
The Garden is located at:
845 N Garey Ave
Pomona, CA 91767-4615
(909) 620-0199
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profile, photos & interview by Kyle Reynolds
"The Garden," Dawn's business and home, sits on the busy street of Garey Ave. in Pomona, California. Yet, despite its location, I was pleasantly surprised by the peacefulness of her home and shop. Sitting in her home, it wasn't the traffic on the street I could hear, but rather the hens she had in her backyard. Dawn admitted she is a "hippie" at the heart. Her appreciation of gardening and spirituality is reflected both in the shop she runs and in the environment she surrounds herself in. In her backyard rests a variety of flowers, trees, and animals. As one walks further into her backyard, there sits a white gazebo as well as a garden with all-organic vegetables. Dawn got a degree in architecture, but soon realized that the life of computer work in office buildings was not for her. Her love was for gardening, nature, and the simple things in life. Like bell hooks in "Beauty Laid Bare," Dawn is the kind of person that appreciates small miracles such as a flower or a beautiful day. She expanded on this concept when discussing her belief that all Americans should know what its like to live in a foreign country. America, a place driven by an "I want" mentality, has lost its connection with joy and the carefree spirit living in a different place can create.
Dawn's spirituality stems from more than just her appreciation of small miracles, however. Ovarian cancer at a young age made it very unlikely that she would be able to conceive a child later in life. Her ability to conceive against the odds though, is something she considers one of the greatest miracles in her life. When she was bed-ridden for a period of time after an accident on the stairs in her house, she learned to "Let go, and let God." She learned to stay motionless and allow the healing of her leg. In God, she found the patience to do this.
Dawn's conversation with me focused mainly on her family life as a child and the strength of her mother. Her father, a government employee, was rarely home a majority of the year and thus, her mother played a very important role in Dawn and her sibling's lives. Dawn was raised in a family where manners and values were strongly preached. Raised in an environment where honesty was always the best policy, it was also an environment that allowed for dreams to become realities. Dawn's mother broke the typical housewife stereotype of the forties and fifties. With a strong interest in architecture she placed in Dawn the idea that she could be whatever she wanted to be as long as she put her mind to it. Thus, Dawn eventually attended Cal Poly Pomona as an architecture major and was the only female in her class. Being raised by such a strong woman also had an impact on how Dawn would later raise her child. Again creating a relationship of trust and honesty with her daughter, she allowed her daughter to feel like an equal while still being in a position of authority. She was raised to be a strong independent woman, and this is the way she raised her daughter as well.
Kyle Reynolds, a Cal Poly Pomona student, created this profile in the Fall 2004 Honors Service Learning section of IGE 120 (Consciousness & Community) as part of a project with the Historical Society of Pomona Valley. He states, "There is much we can learn from one another. Everyone has a story or a life-lesson worth sharing. If there is anything one can take from interviewing a complete stranger, this is it."