If it was true that moss did not have roots, and maternal love could grow spontaneously, as if from nothing, perhaps I had been wrong to believe myself unfit to raise my daughter. Perhaps the unattached, the unwanted, the unloved, could grow to give love as lushly as anyone else.

Vanessa Diffenbaugh

Categorized in : Believe Roots Daughter

Anyone can grow into something beautiful.

Vanessa Diffenbaugh

something-beautiful grows beautiful

Hate can be passionate or disengaged; it can come from dislike but also from fear.

Vanessa Diffenbaugh

passionate dislike hate

Perhaps the unattached, the unwanted, the unloved, could grow to give love as lushly as anyone else.

Vanessa Diffenbaugh

maternal-love grows giving

She was perfect. I knew this the moment she emerged from my body, white and wet and wailing. Beyond the requisite ten fingers and ten toes, the beating heart, the lungs inhaling and exhaling oxygen, my daughter knew how to scream. She knew how to make herself heard. She knew how to reach out and latch on. She knew what she needed to do to survive. I didn’t know how it was possible that such perfection could have developed within a body as flawed as my own, but when I looked into her face, I saw that it clearly was.

Vanessa Diffenbaugh

oxygen daughter heart

Your behavior is a choice; it isn’t who you are.

Vanessa Diffenbaugh

who-you-are behavior choices

The Victorian language of flowers began with the publication of 'Le Language des Fleurs,' written by Charlotte de Latour and printed in Paris in 1819. To create the book - which was a list of flowers and their meanings - de Latour gathered references to flower symbolism throughout poetry, ancient mythology, and even medicine.

Vanessa Diffenbaugh

flowers poetry flower book

There's still something so pure and heartfelt and emotional and genuine about a bouquet of flowers that, even with all the advances of technology and the millions of ways we have to communicate with each other, flowers are still relevant in my opinion.

Vanessa Diffenbaugh

flowers opinion emotional technology

You have to really prove yourself to young people, and if your answer is clear and consistent and loving - even if it's angry and disappointed - what's important is that you're being real and honest and not going anywhere.

Vanessa Diffenbaugh

yourself you angry people

We all make mistakes, and we all need second chances. For youth in foster care, these mistakes are often purposeful - if not consciously so; a way to test the strength of a bond and establish trust in a new parent.

Vanessa Diffenbaugh

bond youth trust strength

I was a screenwriting and studio art major in college, so even though I don't have any training as a floral designer, I have a very particular visual aesthetic.

Vanessa Diffenbaugh

aesthetic training college art

We are more and more into technology. Everything is texting, and everything is instant. Flowers are completely impractical as a method of communication when you could just send a text.

Vanessa Diffenbaugh

flowers you communication technology

I've always loved the language of flowers. I discovered Kate Greenaway's 'Language of Flowers' in a used bookstore when I was 16 and couldn't believe it was such a well-kept secret. How could something so beautiful and romantic be virtually unknown?

Vanessa Diffenbaugh

flowers beautiful romantic believe

The most violent and troubling stories become part of our national consciousness about foster care.

Vanessa Diffenbaugh

about become consciousness care

Though politics is by nature divisive, surely we all can agree that foster children need stability, safety, education, opportunity - and love.

Vanessa Diffenbaugh

nature education love children

I did a minor in creative writing in college, but I didn't start writing until I stayed at home with my own children.

Vanessa Diffenbaugh

start my-own home children

Everyone needs something they're good at. You want your kids to be passionate and figure out something they're good at.

Vanessa Diffenbaugh

your good you want

I don't think there is anything magical about the language of flowers in real life or in my book.

Vanessa Diffenbaugh

flowers language life book

I founded Camellia Network with my dear friend Isis Dallis Keigwin. The mission of our organization is to create a national network that connects every youth aging out of foster care to the critical resources, opportunities, and support they need to thrive in adulthood.

Vanessa Diffenbaugh

friend youth support care

At Camellia Network, we believe if we can create a way of identifying every young person aging out of foster care, defining what they need, and giving a community of supporters a simple and clear way to fulfill those needs, we can produce radically improved outcomes for youth.

Vanessa Diffenbaugh

youth community simple believe

My last book, 'The Language of Flowers,' I wrote completely on naptime, when my little kids were asleep.

Vanessa Diffenbaugh

flowers last language book