Terra
Terra was my best friend. We saw each other almost every day. Our oldest daughters were great friends. I would babysit for her when she was at work, she would come to my house for coffee, we’d go to the local Chicken Chef for coffee, which Sasha actually thought was named “Coffee”. We shared so much with each other. I loved having Terra in my life. She never judged what I said or did.
When Eric and I bought our first house together right after we got married, Terra bought us a housewarming gift. It was the very first gift we got in our new house. It was a Dracaena plant, a cute tiny tree for our new house. We had the perfect spot for it. There was a window sill between the dining area and the living room for it to sit perfectly with tons of light. It was so cute, I loved it.
I very quickly decided that I loved plants, I ended up getting quite a few more. My friend Terri was moving out of province, so she gave me a few of hers, then my mom was doing some renovations on her house, so she gave me some of hers, and so on, and so on. Pretty soon, Eric was complaining that the plants were going to “take over the world”. One plant in particular, he said would bite him every time he walked past it.
It was true, some of the plants began to take over the house. I had some vines that were growing across both the kitchen and living room walls, and a tree that got so big, I ended up having to re-home it because I had no idea how to care for it. But my tiny tree from Terra stayed just that way, tiny. It appeared to be content in just its size. It never grew much taller than two feet.
Eventually Eric and I decided to do some renovations ourselves so I agreed to re-home most of the plants, all of them but two, my one from Terra and part of my vine. By the way, if you are looking to get rid of plants, have a garage sale, they will go so fast.
December 6, 2011 was the last time I had coffee with Terra. We went out for her birthday. I am very thankful that we had that evening together. Our lives had been so busy over the previous months, we hadn’t seen each other in a very long time. I still remember every moment of that evening like it was yesterday. Her laugh, her smile, our conversation. It was so good to see her happy for once.
On Christmas Eve Terra’s sister phoned me with the hardest news that she’d have to give me as a friend. Terra had passed away. Her heart stopped. There was nothing they could do. She was gone. Just like that, my best friend was gone.
You know, I had lost people in my life before this, but no one I was this close to. I really felt a connection to Terra. It felt like a piece of me left with her. I miss her so much every day. From that day on that tiny plant became extra special. It became “Auntie Terra”
We lived in that house for three more years and in August of 2014 we bought the house we currently live in. You know, the entire 15 years that we lived in the other house, no matter where it sat, that plant stayed no more that two feet tall. It stayed small and skinny. I sometimes worried about it, but it never died, so I didn’t worry too much, but Auntie Terra seemed to love our new house. In the first month she grew over two additional feet, then in December, Auntie Terra had a baby! That’s right, a new stem started to come out near the root and I had to get a bigger pot. Within a year the baby was bigger than the mother, but the mother was still growing. Auntie Terra really loved our new house.
Last summer I began to worry because the baby portion of the plant started to touch the roof and I didn’t know what to do. I had such an emotional attachment to it, I didn’t want to risk killing it to propagate it. I didn’t know much about propagating a tree. A vine was easy, but a tree was kind of scary. I asked some advice and found out what I needed to do, but was still quite nervous, so I just kept procrastinating.
On Monday, Terra had decided she’d had enough. She let go and flopped over. I had no choice but to cut her off and put her into some water and pray that she starts to root. Unfortunately, she was not yet a concern, she still had room to grow. The baby however was beginning to get an arch in its neck from climbing into the vault of the ceiling. On Wednesday, I decided I had to put my feelings aside and do what was best for the plant. I cut the stem with a sharp knife semi-close to the base of the leaves, then I cut it again in the middle of the leaves. I now have three pieces.
If it doesn’t survive, this plant has graced us with 20 wonderful years of memories. And if it does survive, I look forward to many more. It is my hope that when Sasha & Rachel buy their first homes, that parts of “Auntie Terra” can move in with them too.
We love and miss you Terra ?
