Homeowners Hermine Ricketts and her husband, Tom Carroll, held a ceremonial planting of vegetables in their garden on the day when a Florida law went into effect that removed local bans across the state on vegetable gardens at residential properties. It was one of the rules that had forced the couple, who lived in Miami Shores, to uproot(根除) all the vegetables in the garden that Ricketts had kept for almost twenty years.

Ricketts had her vegetable garden in her front yard because it faced south and her backyard was mostly in the shade. The retired architect said she gardened for the food and also for the peace it brought her.

“This is a peach tree that I planted, and around it, I had kale, and in between the kale, I had some cabbages,” Ricketts said then.

But then a zoning ordinance(条例) was tightened by Miami Shores Village to forbid vegetables in front yards on the ground, saying that they were unpleasant to look at. Village officials told Ricketts to uproot all her vegetables or she would face a $50 daily fine according to the ban.

And she fought back, joining up with the Institute for Justice, a national law firm, to challenge the ban.

It took six years, but they won. The Florida Legislature passed a bill protecting vegetable gardens, and Governor Ron DeSantis signed it. “After nearly six years of fighting... I will once again be able to legally plant vegetables in my front yard,” Ricketts said in a statement. “I’m grateful to the Legislature and the Governor for standing up to protect my freedom to grow healthy food on my own property.”

She complained that the fight even had to happen. “We had kept a beautiful, nutritious garden for many years before the Village went out of its way to ban it and then scared us with ruinous fines,” she said.

“Gardening is wonderful,” Ricketts added gladly. “I feel victory.... I have no words.”

Here is the list of people with disabilities, who are living life to the fullest!

Frida Kahlo

During her childhood, Frida Kahlo suffered from polio(小儿麻痹症). When she became a young lady, she was also involved in an accident that worsened her problems. Throughout her entire life, she was facing serious physical issues and was in bed because of severe pain. However, she didn’t let that defeat her, and she became one of the famous artists of the 20th century.

John Nash

John Nash had mental disease. He mixed the line between what is real and what isn’t. His life story was given light due to the movie A Beautiful Mind. John Nash was aware of his illness but fought against it, not letting it tear him, and developed a successful academic career. He won a Nobel Prize in Economics in 1994.

Andrea Bocelli

Andrea Bocelli was partially blind but that didn’t stop him from taking piano lessons until he was 6 years old. Unfortunately, when he was 12 years old, he suffered a blow during a football game that completely blinded him. His blindness didn’t stop him from pursuing and focusing on singing.

Bethany Hamilton

Bethany Hamilton, at the age of 13, was a rising star surfer. However, after an attack with a 14-foot tiger shark, she, unfortunately, lost her left arm. One month after the attack, she was back on the seas and surfing to her dreams once again. After 2 years, she won her first national surfing title. She is still an active surf competitor to this day.

“How do you account for your remarkable accomplishment in life?” Queen Victoria of the UK asked Helen Keller. “How do you explain the fact that even though you were both blind and deaf you were able to accomplish so much?”

Ms.Keller’s answer is a tribute to her dedicated teacher. “If it had not been for Anne Sullivan, the name of Helen Keller would have remained unknown.”

According to speaker Zig Ziglar, “Little Annie” Sullivan, as she was called when she was young, was no stranger to hardship.“She was almost sightless herself (due to a childhood fever) and was, at one time, diagnosed as hopelessly” insane by her caregivers. She was locked in a dark underground room of a mental institution because of mental problems. Little Anne Sullivan would attack anyone who came near sometimes. However, an elderly nurse believed there was hope and she offered to help the child. Every day she made all her efforts to give little Anne words of love and encouragement. She believed Little Annie could recover, if only she were shown love.

Eventually, doctors noticed the change in the girl. Where they once witnessed anger and hatred, they now noted a gentleness and love. They moved her upstairs where she continued to improve. Then the day finally came when this seemingly ”hopeless’’ child was released.

Anne Sullivan grew into a young woman with a desire to help others as she herself was helped by the kind nurse. It was she who saw the great potential in Helen Keller. She loved her, disciplined her, played with her, pushed her and worked with her until the flickering candle that was her life became a beacon of light to the world. Anne Sullivan worked wonders in Helen’s life; but it was a loving nurse who first believed in Little Annie and lovingly transformed an uncommunicative child into a compassionate teacher.

“If it had not been for Anne Sullivan, the name of Helen Keller would have remained unknown.” But if it had not been for a kind and dedicated nurse, the name of Anne Sullivan would have remained unknown.