Living history

I think everyone ought to grow something. It gives you responsiblity and the enjoyment of seeing the fruits of your labors.

Now, for those parents, I'm not about to make that comparison. You may get something slightly similar, but parenthood has got to be so much more rewarding, is so much more important, that I'd never put the two anywhere near each other.

But I have a secret in my plants. They're people.

That doesn't mean I talk to them and believe they respond. It means they represent people to me. I'm lucky that I have a few that have been around for years and years. When I got them, I made the choice because something about them reminded me of someone specific. It might be the color of the flower, or the scent or even the way it grows. But each one is a person to me.

Maybe most important to me, they are people who are now only on the periphery of my life. Even if I don't physically see them for years on end, whatever it is that made the person important to me at one time lives on in the plant I see daily. I get to keep the enjoyment.

I never tell them. It's something personal to me. Just a little something that keeps history alive.