Philodendrons And Life

When Mom was first hospitalized she received tons of cards,e-mails and flowers.Anyone that knew her couldn't possibly be surprised to hear that.Almost lost among all these was a bedraggled little philodendron planted in a coffee mug given to her by my cousin.It was one of the first things she got and as other items arrived it got moved around,pushed to the back and even knocked onto the floor at least once.By the time Mom was finally discharged we had forgotten it altogether.As I gathered up everything from her room to go home I came across it at the back of the shelf and asked Mom if she wanted it,well by now it's one stem and leaf were hanging over the side of the cup and she first said no, but at the last minute changed her mind .Its care didn't improve after it's arrival on Elm Ave either for at least a month it sat neglected amidst all Mom's plants at home.One day I started to dump it out and wash the mug but didn't,instead I gave it a little water and the next day it looked like new.I told Mom and she didn't know it was still around,she was still pretty much bedridden still and hadn't been in the living room much since coming home.I continued to water it for a couple more weeks and began to notice it was growing and branching.By now Mom was spending time in the living room and we would occasionally talk about transplanting it to a bigger pot though we didn't,these were pretty busy days in Mom's care.About three months later I came home from the gym to discover that Mom had finally moved it to a bigger pot,these were Mom's best days and mine.Within two weeks it had nearly doubled in size and even if Mom wasn't able to take care of her other plants this one she always watered.It sat and grew and flourished next to Mom's spot in the living room and I would often see her looking at it.Of course Mom's good days didn't last for ever and after she was gone I neglected all her plants for a while.Finally one day it occurred to me that she would be disappointed if she knew that.This is when I noticed the philodendron was once again in poor shape,so I moved it into a spiffy new pot ,gave it some food and and made supports to hold it up,it's stem had nearly broken .Now it is two feet tall and back next to Mom's chair and I often find myself just looking at it,amazed at the power of the force of life.