From the Good Earth
A Truly Living Legacy
Savanah Farms STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY KAREN KENNEDY ILLUSTRATIONS BY CASSIE TAM
W
e all think from time to time about the legacy we might leave behind. Most of us are fortunate enough to be able to give it some thought and make a plan. Perhaps we will leave a trust for a favorite charity or create traditions that will bring our family together for years to come. Or maybe we’ll just be the best we can be for our friends and family, be kind to strangers and hope we are remembered with love. Yet some of us are taken before we can make a plan for our legacy. And this was the case for Savanah Chavez. A bright, kind and generous spirit who grew up in Nashville, Indiana, the daughter of Sam and Susan Chavez and sister to Tony, Sam and Ian. She went to Ivy Tech and studied nursing. She married and gave birth to a daughter, Chloe, when she was 24. From the time she was a child, Savanah felt empathy for every creature, whether it was an impoverished neighbor kid or an injured squirrel on the side of the road. She felt the pain of others deeply and did everything she could to remedy it. Due to Sam’s work as an international law specialist, the Chavez family spent a great deal of time in Mexico. While the rest of the family enjoyed their time there, Savanah could not. She was too disturbed by the poverty she saw. She loved all living things and told her father of her dream of creating a greenhouse on a farm where she could tend to plants and find peace. As an adult, she spent her days helping others full-time at a clinic called Volunteers in Medicine in Bloomington. But on a chilly evening in February 2012, Savanah didn’t make it home from the clinic. She was hit by an impaired driver, and her bright, kind and generous spirit was taken. Thankfully, Chloe, who was 9 months old, was with her grandparents at the time. “We lost a shining light that day,” Sam Chavez said. Sam and Susan took on guardianship of Chloe and Sam began to formulate a plan to make Savanah’s dream of a farm come true. A self-proclaimed “mad scientist” who Chloe’s toys are found throughout the greenhouse.
“Farmer” Sam (left) and his son, Tony, stand at the entrance to the greenhouse.
6
edible INDY
summer 2015
