Resilient.

Four years ago, we moved my grandmother in to an Alzheimer's facility due to her progressing disease. In the process of moving her I was given the task to go clean out some of my grandmother's belongings at her second home in the mountains. We needed to use some of the furniture at the house to furnish her new room. Anyway, the house had been left alone for several weeks if not months when I arrived that brisk November afternoon. While cleaning I discovered my grandmother's Christmas cactus was hanging  on, just barely. If you aren't familiar with them they require some care, not hard just specific, and if done properly they will bloom for you once a year. Having some what of a green thumb I asked my Dad for the little plant and figured I'd try to revive it. Well, with some TLC the following year it had a handful of blooms...I did more research and tweaked my care plan. The last two years I've been rewarded with the following:

For what ever reason this year my little plant decided it wanted to bloom at Thanksgiving instead of Christmas. I honestly could care less when it does just as long as it does bloom. I think this year it's a little extra special since my grandmother passed just a few weeks ago. It's always a constant reminder of her and something she loved...the color red. In my research I learned that if taken care of properly these little plants can live quite a long life and be passed down from generation to generation. Here's hoping that I can pass it along one day along with my grandmother's fine china and her wedding set.