When we were first married, Martha had little experience with cooking. She worked very hard to overcome this and become a good cook. I know we all appreciated it. One of the other things she had no experience at was raising growing plants. Everything she tried to grow ended up in the trash. This was quite frustrating to her.
Then one day she discovered African Violets. I don’t know what the attractions was, or how her proficiency improved, but she began to have success. It started with a single pot on the kitchen window that she started. The plant survived and bloomed magnificently. She was so proud, and justifiably so. I was really proud of her too.
Then she learned how to slip them, plant leaves and all sorts of other tricks to grow African Violets. Suddenly we had a house full of them. They were growing in pots on the back of the toilet. There were vases of them set in every window of the house. I don’t exactly remember when this all stopped, but I think it came about the same time our son was born.
I keep scratching my head trying to remember, but I don’t remember a single violet in our house after Dan was born. But Martha became very proficient at growing other plants and flowers. I was so proud of her. I still have her Christmas cactus, which I have almmost killed several times, but i think she is still guiding me.
