Lizabeth, in the beggining of the story, is very childish with Ms. Lottie, and together with her friends, do childish things to her marigolds.
Later, she hears her parents talking about difficulties of adult life and problems with money, and angry about what she heard, she goes to Ms. Lottie's house and destroys her marigolds. When Lizabeth notice what she had done, she regretted her actions and was ashamed.
Lizabeth grew up, Ms. Lottie died, but she still remembered what she had done and how her actions marked the end of her innocence, when she looked beyond herself, into the depths of another person.