Today I’m grateful for Herbie. No, not the sentient 1963 Volkswagen Beetle. Herbie is our palm plant.
Here’s the back story. When Pepper and I got engaged and bought our first townhome back in 1995, we received a bunch of coupons and “welcome to the magical world of homeownership” junk mail. Home sales are public record in Colorado, so companies in the area knew we owned a new home and probably needed furniture and appliances and tools and whatnot. I remember one of the flyers in the mail was a Home Depot coupon for a free plant. A free plant! So we picked up a little four-inch-tall palm plant at the local store.
Twenty-eight years later, this four-inch plant has become a six-foot monster. All I’ve done over those years is watered consistently and re-potted several times. Since I don’t have much of a green thumb, I’m pretty proud that Herbie is not only still alive, but thriving. He reminds me of a similar palm plant my grandma had– I think it was at least six feet tall as well.
That said, perhaps this whole post isn’t so much about Herbie as it is about those twenty-eight years. Essentially that timespan covers my relationship with Pepper, and you could say the growth of this hardy little plant is akin to the growth of our marriage and our lives together. Like any relationship, and like any plant, marriage takes effort and patience and diligence and nourishment. And the result, after all that, is something that’s far bigger and better than when it started. So thanks, Herbie, for reminding me of all that.