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Goodbye: True gardening stories relating to love, life and gardening

Have you ever thought about simple words in correlation to humans and plants? What about words like life, death, flourish, whither, oxygen, carbon dioxide, water, and nutrients? Simple words can mean so much to both species.

In February 2007, my boyfriends mother passed away, due to a progressive illness. The last time she was in the hospital, I assisted the family with her care. When she first entered the hospital she was aware and was able to speak for the first few days of her stay.

I had known Miss Mary for approximately five years and she always had a love for life, no matter what was happening around her. There was always a smile on her face and when she walked into a room, it feel so warm and bright. Her hobbies were quilting and plants. Living in a secluded place with serenity, she took the time to go outdoors and plant whatever plant she was able to get her hands on. Years ago she planted this one plant that was in the hibiscus family. It grew to be a healthy plant and was beautiful when it was in bloom. After the flower would whither, the stem remained green and strong.

The hospital setting in February, was a very emotional and touching time. One particular night I was visiting with Miss Mary, and she wanted her room door to be kept ajar. Across the hall was a huge painting of a spring garden. There were so many different flowers and colors which made it beautiful and refreshing to look at. She would point to the painting, smile and look at me. She was unable to say the colors nor the type of flowers but was well aware of what the painting was. We communicated in this fashion for at least one hour.

Approximately ten days later she passed away. She was buried in her small home town, which is where her residence was. In fact the home she was living in, is actually my boyfriend's home. At the time of the funeral, we stayed at this home which it on a lake. When leaving to come back to our home town which is approximately two hours away, the hibiscus stem was green and strong. In fact, we talked about that plant and how she had taken care of it.

Two weeks later we returned to the house on the lake. Looking out toward the lake where the plant was, we were shocked to see there was no more plant. The first thing I did was go up to that particular spot and it was gone. I turned toward my boyfriend and told him the plant must have died along with her. We both shed tears.

Approximately four weeks after our last visit, we visited the lake house and when we drove up, what did we see? There was the green stem again, standing strong. We were elated, because we felt like we still had something to hold on to. This may sound far fetched to some people, but it really is a true story.

When we discovered this, I told my boyfriend I felt his mother sent a sign to us, that everything would be alright.

Learn more about this author, Miss D Charnia.
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