What started as a simple request from Wright City resident Judy Lagemann has grown into a source of community pride, helped along by two fourth graders at West Elementary.
Richard Lagemann, Judy’s husband, had spent months with his son building the couple’s new home adjacent to West Elementary to assist his wife after a stroke in October of 2024 left her wheelchair bound.
Once the interior work was finished, Richard said his wife had a simple request.
“I continued to work on the house the rest of the winter and then turned my attention to the outside — replacing the backyard fencing and growing grass,” Richard said. “Through it all, Judy wanted one thing outside: a flower garden like the ones she had at our previous houses. Knowing that she couldn’t take care of her flowers and plants as she had before, I decided that I would paint her a flower garden on the inside of our new fence facing our back porch.”
Torn ligaments in his right foot soon had Rich unable to complete the request.
That’s where West Elementary fourth graders Carley Ellis and Paisley Eads came to the rescue.
What started as a neighborly effort to help Rich walk his dogs while he recovered grew into much more.
“One of our neighbor kids saw, felt sorry for me and offered to walk the dogs twice a day,” Richard said. “Soon, a second young lady joined in, then a third. Our dogs were being walked multiple times a day. The kids would stay and play with the dogs after walking them and eat any snacks that we offered. Apparently, word spread through the neighborhood, and eventually seven different kids helped us walk and played with our dogs, even after the backyard became available again. Through the last four-plus months, two of those kids remained constant: Carly and Paisley. They knew where the cookie jar and fruit snacks were, walked and played with our dogs and kept us company.”
Even as the new companionship blossomed, there was still a problem: Judy’s garden remained unfinished.
That’s when Richard came up with the idea to have the youngsters help finish the job.
After his grandchildren took up the mantle to begin the project in earnest, Carly and Paisley joined in to lend a hand.
Judy’s “garden” grew to include not just the inside of the fence, but the outside, facing the street and West Elementary.
“When it came time to work on the painted flower garden, I ordered flower stencils and asked our youngest grandson Ethan and his friend to use the stencils and help paint a few flowers on the inside of the fence so that we could evaluate what to do next,” Rich said. “Carly and Paisley gave their big approval the next day. I had thought all along that if we really liked the flowers, it would be fun to do the same on the outside of the fence, which faces the front of West Elementary School, where our oldest daughter Jennifer has taught for 25 years. Our granddaughter Lena decided that she wanted to help paint some of those flowers before she headed to MU (the University of Missouri) for her freshman year of college.”
Carly and Paisley played an integral role in the new project’s design and implementation, Richard said.
They helped pick which flower stencils to use, learned how to apply the paint, and completed eight flowers and several butterflies and bees.
“Many cars that passed by gave us thumbs up and encouraging words, much to the delight of my helpers,” Richard said.
Jen Hamilton, Richard’s daughter and a teacher at West, said she, too, felt just how rewarding the entire experience was on several levels.
“It's very heartwarming how these girls have just kind of adopted my parents,” Jen said. “They come over and visit with them and walk their dogs. They helped my dad plant shrubs and put up outdoor decor. I have a unique opportunity to see this through two different lenses. These are my parents and it makes me feel good to see other people help them out and care for them. But as a teacher to both of these girls, I love watching students recognize and embrace the opportunity to be kind and helpful to others. And now, together, they have created this fun little mural on my parents' fence to spread a little joy to everyone who drives by. It's pretty special and makes me smile every time I look at it.”
The girls were excited to be part of the process, and getting to see their handiwork each day when they head to class is also a fitting memento, they said.
“He offered for us to paint on his fence, and it was really awesome because he is such a nice guy,” Carley said. “Now we get to walk by it and see it every day. It was really fun, and we had a great time.”
“We got to choose to paint bumblebees and butterflies, which we love,” Paisley added. “So it was really cool to see our ideas come to life.”
Paisley said that there’s a lesson in how everything transpired with the Lagemanns.
It’s a lesson her schoolmates could learn from, she said.
“You guys could take what you started with one small act of kindness and grow it into something even bigger,” Paisley said.
Inspired by the work started on the fence, Richard said he aims to continue, hoping to grow Judy’s garden.
He owes much of it to the kind-hearted efforts of two very special girls, he said.
“My intention is to complete painting flowers on the rest of the fence facing the elementary school, and Judy’s flower garden on the inside of the fence; hopefully with some student help,” Richard said. “As a retired middle school principal, I still enjoy the enthusiasm and creativity that our young people display.”
