2022
My sister and I reconnected with our Aunt Mary this year. Because of illness and the COVID crud, the last time we saw her was at Mom's funeral in 2018. It is always a blessing for me to be with my Aunt. She and Uncle Joe (2016) were always close in heart. Of course I love my 3 cousins too!
And here is the story: We all remember that our Grandmother Scott had a Christmas cactus on her front porch for years. It actually sat on an old wooden stool that her brother, our Great Uncle Charles, made. Maxine ended up with the stool and Mom got the cactus after Grandmother passed. Unfortunately, life took its toll on Mom and the cactus. Mom often asked about the cactus, and we have often, since cleaning out the house, thought about how nice it would be to still have the plant and a couple of Daddy's rose bushes. Oh well! It would be four years until we were able to go see Aunt Mary after Mom's funeral. When Maxine and I got to Aunt Mary's, she told us she had something to show us. Her beautiful cactus. Then she told us its story. This cactus (shown above) is a cutting from Grandmother's original plant. Aunt Mary got it from our Mom when Mom brought the cactus from Florida after Grandmother died (1978). So, if our math is right, Aunt Mary's plant is at least 60 years old. She has had it for 44 years and we expect the mother plant was at least 16 years old when Grandma died, because we remember it being on her porch during our childhood visits. And now...here it is! Aunt Mary gave each of us a cutting she had already started to root for us. So, Grandmother's cactus does live on...with Aunt Mary and now with our cuttings.
2023: The little plant in the red pot is the cutting from Aunt Mary/Grandmother. The plant in the white pot is one I bought in 2019 when we return to SC from HK. Every place we lived in China/HK, I was able to get a Christmas/Thanksgiving cactus and a few other indoor plants, but couldn't take them with us when we moved from place to place. So each location I would replace them. Maybe these two will be here for a while! The above photo on right is of the three-leg table built by our Great Uncle Charles.