The Bamboo Plant

The last of Tiffany's bamboo plant died the other day.  I tried so hard to save it after the other two stalks died last year but I think they got diseased somehow.  This was the stalk that wrapped itself around the other two like a hug so when the other two stalks died, I bought two more for this one to protect.  The plant had been doing so well for the last year when all of a sudden, it turned yellow and dried up.  Such a little thing...yet it hit me hard.

Tiffany used to joke about how she couldn't grow anything.  I remember when she first moved into her apartment she would buy a flowering plant or two but they would always die on her.  Then one day, I saw that she had a sweet little bamboo plant in an adorable elephant container.  It didn't require a lot of maintenance; all you had to do was keep water in the container.  Not too hard for Tiffany to maintain and it looked so cute sitting on the shelf of her lamp stand.

Elephant Container

I'm not the greatest gardener either, but I definitely had better luck than Tiffany.  Some plants I can keep very well and others I can't grow to save my life (of course, if the cats would leave some of them alone and not chew on them, they might do better).  In fact, Tiffany gave me a tiny little plant for Mother's Day when she was in 2nd grade which I still have to this very day...beautiful, healthy and still growing.  So I brought Tiffany's little bamboo plant home after she passed away, not only because it was hers and meant something very special, but also because I figured I couldn't possibly do much harm.  I can be a half-way decent gardener.  I have her wonderful Serenity Garden, memory plants, and all the new plants in front of the house, after all.  I should have been able to take care of one small plant.

2nd Grade Mother's Day Gift

Memorial Plant next to Tiffany's lamp stand

But now another possession of Tiffany's is gone, broken or died...

Many people would say that I am being silly.  That this plant, like her wine glasses or some other item of hers that I've broken or inadvertently ruined over the last 3 years, is just a thing.  And they are just material things.  Yet at the same time, to me, they represent a part of Tiffany, of her life, of the things she did, the things she loved.  So when something happens to them, it's like another part of who Tiffany was disappears.  I guess that's what people who grieve do...they try to hold on so tightly to whatever small piece of their loved one they had.  For me, it's just one more "thing" I couldn't save.  One more piece of my heart that breaks away at yet another tiny, seemingly meaningless loss...bittersweet memories one tries so very hard to keep close to the heart.