Gardening heals the heart

by RACHEL BREWSTER
DCN Correspondent

Flowers spill from a yard on Third Street, overflowing onto the dull sidewalk to bring color, life, and beauty to the world. It’s a stark contrast to the brooding government buildings; the blue house snatches the eye like Candyland in a cement city.



Carol Simat stands before her home fingering a dying sunflower—proof that fall has come.

She brushes its core and a handful of seeds break away, tumbling into the soil below.

Simat straightens, glancing up at her house.

“God was responsible for creating it and making it grow,” she says.

When she and her husband moved in 18 years ago, they had not intended to own the blue beauty. But, like so many other things in their life, they considered it a miracle and a blessing.

With a keen eye and green thumb, the Simats began gardening and fixing up their new home.

It was no small task.

The front yard is now a plethora of bright flower pots. They line the steps and wrap around the porch. A violent-yellow dahlia stands to the side of the porch, bursting with petals and demanding attention.

They worked together on their garden project.

“My husband was very creative,” she says.

Marriage, on the other hand, was not always so harmonious for Brian and Carol Simat.

Thanksgiving is a time for families to gather together and be grateful for each other. But a peek inside the window of the Simat home in November 1979 would have revealed a different scene.

After eight years together, they were considering divorce.

At that time, they were both immersed in their business careers. Due to what Simat calls their “corporate-minded” lifestyle, they had grown independent and no longer felt the need to stay together.

“Everything looked good on the outside, but on the inside it wasn’t fulfilling,” Simat says.

Yet she wasn’t completely ready to walk away. For months she prayed for guidance.
Then, one fateful day in January 1980, it came.

She had a religious, eye-opening experience that she cherishes to this day, she says. It filled her with hope and faith. And two days after Carol’s encounter with faith, Brian felt the same thing.

They decided to devote themselves to Christ.

“It changed everything for us,” she says.

Brian and Carol renewed their wedding vows two months later.

From then on, the Simats dedicated their time to the needy.

Their home became a haven as they opened their arms to the physically and mentally handicapped. Certified by social services, they provided adult foster care for three years. As job coaches the Simats accompanied disabled people to work in order to help them accomplish their tasks.

“We were learning a lot about people and a lot about ourselves at the same time,” Carol says.

Even her blossoming blue house is a “prayer project.” A flag hanging in the back yard declares: ‘Gardening Grows the Spirit.’

And their years of hard work is paying off.

One day a woman walked by and commented on her flowers, Simat recalls, saying that her attitude lifts, and she’s more optimistic when she passes Simat’s yard.

Across the street from the Simat residence is the New San Marcos, a supportive housing complex for the residents of Central Hillside. Lucy Horvatich and her co-workers say they enjoy the view.

“It brightens up this neighborhood … you can’t help but stare at it,” says Horvatich.

Beyond the flowers, engraved into the architecture of the house, is a trail of wooden hearts. The tips of three large red hearts kiss, at the peak of the roof, forming a triangle.

These hearts represent God’s love and compassion for the people of the Central Hillside, says Simat.

“This neighborhood was a tough neighborhood when we first moved in here,” says Simat.

There used to be constant drug trafficking, vandalism, and theft. All the problems haven’t stopped, but they have gone down, she says.

“God has really intervened and helped the situation here,” says Carol.

Brian and Carol used to pray for the neighborhood together.

Two years ago, Brian Simat passed away.

She does it alone now.

He had a history of chronic heart problems and was gardening in the backyard when his chest tightened. He put his tools down and moved to sit in his favorite spot, the picnic bench.

“And he was gone,” she said.

The man she loved and cherished, the man who she still calls “my hubby,” left her for another world.

Brian and Carol were married for 35 years.

“The Lord’s given me a lot of strength and peace,” she says.

Carol Simat walks up the long blue staircase outside and pauses on the patio next to a plant. She brushes a leaf with her fingertip, it’s corduroy soft. A smile fills her green eyes.

New San Marcos


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 The supportive housing complex lies across the street from Simat's house.

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