100 When I Was Growing Up Stories

Bloom Where You are Planted

Prompt#15 House Plants

Growing up, we had a Christmas cactus that refused to live up to its name and bloom in December.

The plants that garnered our family’s attention were the outside ones like hay, corn, and garden vegetables. In other words, the plants that we depended upon for our survival.

Plants, unlike animals, cannot choose their environment. Outside plants are at the mercy of changing weather, pests, and invasive neighboring plants. House plants, however, are at the mercy of their owners, the people who brought them into their homes. A bit like children.

My parents were very busy, often overwhelmed, running a farm and taking care of five children. So it is understandable that our Christmas cactus, like us kids, didn’t always receive the attention we required.

My siblings and I often went to school looking unkempt and uncared for. Because of this, we all felt the sting of being laughed at and ridiculed on the playground. And there was a time when my sister overheard our neighbor saying, “And there are, the kids with their hungry little faces.” Sadly enough, it was an accurate observation.

Like a plant, we didn’t have the option to change our physical living environment. However, as my parents looked for ways to create a more stable life, they gave us tools that taught us how to grow within that space that we could not change.

Each winter, my parents would pile all of us onto the antique double-runner sled and fly down the snow-covered road. In the spring, we would collect pollywog eggs and watch as they miraculously changed into frogs. My favorite time was standing outside on a summer evening looking for shooting stars and fireflies while listening to the whippoorwill’s call in the distance.

I may have had holes in my shoes and worn wrinkled hand-me-down clothes to school, but I always knew that my parents loved me. I knew that no matter what I did or how many mistakes I made, they would love me no matter what.

Today, I am living a life I would never have dreamed possible when I was growing up. My life has blossomed like the colorful, tubular flowers that bloom on a well-tended Christmas cactus. For this, I am incredibly grateful.

With Love & Energy by the Pond,

Laurel