It was quiet when I entered. The main door was shut tight. The fairy lights caught my attention. They had a soft ethereal, whimsical glow as they danced throughout the fairy garden display.

“Wake up,” the fairies beckoned. “It’s time to share your wishes with the Master Gardener Volunteers at the Canfield Fair.”

In the center of the room stood a handcrafted wishing well surrounded by lush green ferns and various house plants. Above the well, a rainbow banner asked, “What are your garden wishes?”

“Tell me,” whispered the well. “Don’t be shy. Share them with the universe. You never know…”

Nestled between the fairy gardens and the wishing well, the paper scroll waited hopefully for the penning of the first wish. Three master gardeners took the lead and shared some common wishes. They wanted to be younger and not hurt as much when gardening. They wished for tons of flowers without all the work. They were saying, “Time, stop marching by. Let us stay gardening in the essence of our youth forever.”

Then, Aria came up and wished to be a butterfly. I imagined she wanted to flit, flutter and glide across the tippy tops of flowers stopping for a respite and a sweet drink of nectar.

For days, young and old people shared their wishes. They weren’t just garden wishes. They were funny, loving and heartfelt personal wishes. The kids had me in stitches with, “I wish my nose was smaller, school was over, and my sister would just keep quiet!” They were introspective with a wish of, “Wouldn’t it be nice if bees didn’t sting so I could peek inside their nest, and the birds ate all of the spotted lantern flies?”

I was hopeful when I read how many people wanted world peace, people to be kind to one another, and the world to have equality and love for all people. There were wishes for no more cancer, fibromyalgia and ALS disease. One person wanted to make it to Monday and stop worrying so much. The heartfelt wishes of family members wanting the best for each other appeared repeatedly on the scrolls.

Then there were those wishes that got to me. One woman wanted her husband to be able to walk again. I felt her pain and whispered words of comfort and compassion out into the universe. Another woman just wanted to give her deceased husband one last kiss and hug — a common wish for all of us that have lost a loved one.

After the fair, our committee chairman, Jim Zeleznik, treated the scrolls with care. He divided them up and, at our monthly meeting, placed them on tables for us to read. We smiled, laughed and felt the desires and pain of our fellow citizens. It was magical and humbling. We were grateful people had the courage to share, and I swear you could still hear the fairies whispering one last wish.

“We wish that all of your wishes could come true!”