All unbeknownst to Dan and me, my mother submitted our garden to the Newton Community Pride organization, a nonprofit loosely affiliated with our city government, for an award. Each year, Newton Community Pride gives out a number of these. So behold, last week we got a letter in the mail saying that we’d won!

Our first thought was that there must have been some kind of mistake, and we’d have to give it back.

But no. They read me the description over the phone. “A steep hill was terraced into a gorgeous triple-decker garden complete with waterfall.” There aren’t too many like that. Definitely had to be ours.

Tonight I went with my mother and my delighted landscape architect Vicki Hibbard to the awards ceremony. Where I was presented with a professional-looking certificate suitable for framing, and my picture was taken for all posterity.