I love plants. My house is full of plants. If a leaf drops and you leave it lying on top of the soil it becomes another plant and they continue to grow and reproduce until you have a houseful of plants. The front of our house has a long porch with lots of windows. Those plants love it out there. If we ever have to move we will need a special transport for the large plants I have cared for for more years than I recall.
There’s one plant in particular I’m very fond of. It’s a tree I think that my stepson Dan practiced bonsai on it. It has a funky curved trunk and shiny green leaves. It was a gift for Mother’s Day I think.
One day I noticed the tree had webs on the underside of the leaves. “Oh, no,” I thought to myself, “It has spider mites.”
It appeared to be losing leaves and so rather than infect my other babies, I moved it to the opposite of the house. It promptly lost all its leaves and became a barren twig in a pot of small stones (a feature of this plant that I particularly loved) taking up space in the bedroom.
Well, one day I decided to move it out to the deck and let it completely die. Since I was slow to destroy it, it stayed there for a few weeks in the sun, the wind, and the rain. I’m not sure I watered it at all thinking it was dead. We have to save the pot and maybe the smooth stones, but I had given up.
Miraculously, leaves began to appear, and the tree revived itself into a most wonderful-looking specimen. I was thrilled. It loves the outdoors and we left it there for the entire summer. It thrived and still to this day I place it on the deck once the change of frost has passed.
I’m so very glad this tree survived, it reminds me of Dan every day. Then, the unthinkable happened. In August of 2023, the family was notified that Dan had unexpectedly passed away. Our lives were once again tossed into the air to land in a pile, making funeral arrangements for someone too young to die.
There’s not much to say about losing a child, except it’s perhaps the most difficult experience for a parent to endure. Add that to our year of losses, and well, as one can expect, a certain numbness follows. The community outpouring of love for this young man was overwhelming. There’s nothing more I can say. I have no words.
It’s time to place that tree outdoors again for the season. It shall forever more be named Dan. I love Dan.
INDYchildrendotme 
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