My Thanksgiving Cactus

Today is one year since my mother, Sonja Behnke Festerling, fell and ended up at a skilled nursing place in Howard County. This is a date I wish never had happened. I wish she had not fallen. I wish for so many things that are not to be. As with so many others, we learn to live with the passing of our loved ones.

A few days after Mom fell, my cousin Jeanne Byrnes and my Aunt Ele Behnke visited her, bringing this nice 4″ Thanksgiving Catcus. When they got it, it looked much like it does now, only a little smaller. Only one bud was open on it.

For days, Mom and I would watch this plant. She would say to me the first few days, “I think it is going to bloom some more,” but it never did. Just that one bloom, and on December 9th, when sadly I took the plant home with me, the bloom fell off.

Even now, thinking about seeing that bloom lying on the table is hard. At first, I did not want to keep the plant. Every time I looked at it, I cried. None of the other buds ever opened up, and slowly, they all fell off.

Fast forward a few months, and my husband showed me all the many buds and new growth on it. I had ignored it, but he kept taking care of it. As I write this, I know two big swollen buds are ready to pop open!! This plant, which made me so sad to look at now, makes me smile. I am thinking of Mom and how much she loved all her flowers. And how much she enjoyed looking at this last one on her window sill, along with the African Violets we had in her room with her.

I am glad my husband kept her Thanksgiving Cactus alive. One day, it will be as big as the one I wrote about a few years ago, in an article called: “Let The Holidays Begin!“

Thank you for letting me share my stories and thoughts these past few years. I want to add to my list of what I am thankful for–You, my readers and friends. You will never know how much it means to me when you email me about one of my articles or stop in to say hi at the craft shows I set up.