The Plant

I've wanted to write about this since Mother's Day but you can see how that turned out. First of all, I didn't get a before picture of my beloved plant, so you will have to use your fantastic imaginations again. Second of all, if you make it to the end of this post the reason behind my sporadic posting will be (partially) revealed. And so you shall have it, the story of the plant.

As with most of my stories, to understand the story if the plant, you will have to understand a bit about my past. I never had a green thumb, or rather, I have never tried to have a green thumb I should say. Every time I ended up with a plant of some sort (which was rare) it never made it. No plants ever had a chance of surviving with me, except the tumble weed I picked up somewhere in Texas or Arizona on my cross country trip, that managed to stay in my car for almost two years. Ok, so technically it was dead to begin with, but it had personality nonetheless. Anyways, I digress. Maybe I just want to distract you from the fact that I was a truly terrible plant owner of which I feel ashamed. They are living things after all. I think plants for me can be lumped into a category of things I never cared to care about in my past (that I put a lot of time and effort into now), like drinking water regularly, eating vegetables ever, or spending time with children in preparation for parenthood. Looking back, I am sad that I neglected to allow such a small, simple thing to bring me joy.

Flash forward to Mother's Day '14, Emma ran over to me like she always does when I walk through her classroom door to pick her up at the end of the day, Her eyes lit up, her cheeks reached the maximum capacity of chunky cuteness from grinning, and her little legs moved fast in a blurred fury in my direction. However, on this particular day there was something else I noticed. As if it could even be possible, my child seeded to be exuding even more excited radiance than usual while running toward me clutching a tiny pot. I was then informed that she planted some seeds for me for Mother's Day. Whaaaaaaaaaaaat? And that's when the chamber of my heart that stores my ability to care for plants (which like the Grinch was waaay too many sizes too small) grew to the point of exploding with love for this living thing my child had so sweetly nurtured up until this point. Up until this point where it left her hands and entered mine. I'm not going to lie, at first I thought "oh well, that's that" and I set it down on the table at home thinking it would not grow. But low and behold, they very next day there was a tiny little spec of green poking out from the soil.

I know now that my motherly instincts are intact from frequent use so I guess it's no surprise that I suddenly found myself with a sixth child (four dogs + one toddler + one plant). Every day I checked on my plant. I made sure it was sitting where it could get good sun and that the soil was moist Then the unthinkable happened, it grew to the point of needing a bigger pot. It was then that we made the decision to move it outside (yes my husband and I have had several deep conversations about this plant, carefully weighing our options on how to care for it. I told you, sixth child). I should have done more research because I think the plant was meant to be an indoor plant but my husband and I felt it was best to leave it in the direct sunlight outside, thunderstorms and all. Finally, after a dramatic turn of events, I thought the plant had died right before we left for vacation. It had withered and dried out. I was very upset we moved it out into the elements and it was with a heavy hear that I got on a plane to leave my failed child sitting on the back deck.

Then something crazy happened, when we got back from vacation, after the jet lag fog lifted, I noticed that the plant was still alive! I could hardly believe it! And little did I know I would really need that plant. It would become my inspiration when certain unfortunate circumstances happened to our family. Luckily we are still healthy and we have each other but we are going through some of life's rough patches at the moment. It has not been easy on me emotionally. But then I look over at the plant, something so small, something a few years ago I would not have taken the time to even give a second thought, and there it was, still growing. After being left outside to navigate a new world full of challenges and hardships, it made it. It's still alive and standing tall and that's what I need to do now. Take the crap life throws at me and do my best to stand tall, to flourish though all of my challenges and hardships. It's not an easy road, I'm not going to lie, it is so very difficult, but I'm in it for the long run and I'm taking my inspiration from the plant.