A MESSAGE FROM ROSEMARY CASCIO-SINCLAIR

“I grew up learning all about herbs from my grandparents on their dairy farm in Wisconsin. My grandmother was from Switzerland and my grandfather, who was from Canada, was a full-blooded Blackfeet Indian. Grandfather taught me to honor Mother Earth and her plants and especially to be kind to all animals for they are here to teach us about love. On that wonderful farm, I learned to be silent and to watch. ‘From this we learn,’ my grandfather would say, yet he hardly spoke the words. But with his eyes and in my mind I could hear him. To me, he was the original “Animal Whisperer,” teaching me to connect to all the animals. My grandmother prepared dog food for our hunting dogs. I would watch as she added many different herbs to their food.

“On the farm I helped my grandparents - we gathered herbs and I learned from them how to recognize the many different types and how to use them. I remember picking a certain plant that my grandmother said made her birds sing better. We would put this in their cage and they eagerly ate it. I don’t remember if they actually did sing better … but in my heart I felt they did. I knew from early childhood that I wanted to always help people and animals and that is the road I have travelled for many years now. This is my passion—to help all people, plants, and animals. To help one another is what it is ALL about. I will forever remain a lifelong student—eager to learn everything there is to learn on our long road to ‘remembering.’”