Have you ever gotten together with an old friend and magic happens? If you’re blessed to have an old friend since childhood then you know what I’m talking about.
My dearest friend since second grade, my concert-going bestie, my soulmate if there ever was one; shared with me something amazing. Even though we’ve been best friends for decades, somehow I missed this incredible part of her.
Plants.
Not just the normal plants like Mother In Laws Tongue and Ivy, I’m talking plants I never even knew existed. Plants with so many colors your eyes struggle to tell what color it really is.
Her process for plant shopping is as follows:
1. Find a pot you can’t live without.
2. Find a plant you can’t live without to put in said pot.
3. Find another plant you can’t live without because it’s the color green that reminds you of summer.
4. Panic because you just realized you have a plant without a pot so you head back over to that section of green pots that will truly make that green plant pop.
5. Find another pot and repeat steps 1-5.
All the while this is happening, my dearest friend begins to tell me every name of said plants. How to take care of them. She spots plants from across the nursery and calls them out by name. It’s as if they’ve been friends for as long as we have.
And yet, I missed it.
Because life has a tight grip and when it latches on it doesn’t let go. That just means we have to try harder to keep those special relationships alive. And MY best friend has the secret sauce to make it happen.
She checks on me, randomly and somehow the randomness is spot on. Like I’m looking around as I’m reading her message to see if she’s nearby. (No, we are not witches and didn’t perform some spell to be bound as sisters for life; though wouldn’t that be fun? Ha!) She sends video messages and then requests to see my sweet face in return. Who does that? She invites me to concerts out of state for a little 24-hour getaway.
She cheers me on when I’m feeling down. That’s my favorite ingredient of her best-friend secret sauce–rooting for me.
In this unstable world, we could all learn from my crazy-plant-lady friend and root for someone. Maybe it’s an old friend. Maybe it’s a new friend. Heck, root for them all! My motto in life is that people need someone in their corner, cheering them on. Even the hardest of people…but we can save that topic for another time! Ha!
Maybe I should root for my own plants and water them… I actually checked on them this morning and I’m proud to say that I have 3 and 1/2 out of five plants left. I think those are pretty good odds! (The half is because one is on its way out but I’m trying to keep it alive).
May you all root for someone today…and maybe check on your plants.
Love, jes
true life hot mess mom 