Things but not so much Stuff

I was recently asked: "What would you save if your house was on fire?"

Perhaps an unfair question, since the first answer out of my mouth would have to be my children. (Duh!) But barring any living creature in need of saving, it took me less than half a second to answer this question. There is only one thing I would save.

I am not a material girl. I like shoes, and own 40 or so pairs. I enjoy television and my computer. I like my washing machine and my car. I get nostalgic over pictures of my children as babies, and I own several books I have read 50+ times. But I wouldn't save any of them.

I would save my plant, Harvey.

About two years ago, my cat knocked Harvey over and broke the planter in which he had grown for more than fifteen years. I was distraught, genuinely upset, manic, almost in tears. Yes, that sounds dramatic, but it was true. My sister-in-law came over because we were supposed to go out to dinner, and when she arrived she stared at me like I was certifiably insane. All this.... over a PLANT!?

I took her confusion stoically (or as stoically as I could while desperately searching for a new flower pot and trying not to weep over the marbles that tumbled dirtily from between Harvey's roots). She naturally didn't understand. This is no mere plant, and the thought of losing him knotted my intestines and made my heart beat too fast.

Harvey is my oldest friend. I have had him since I was 13 years old. He is a cutting from my grandmother's philodendron, and he has been everywhere with me since then. My ex-husband told me he knew I wasn't coming back, not when I told him I was leaving, but when I packed up Harvey to move in with my parents. Harvey greenly took up a prominent place in every home I have ever lived in, and I always know he's going to be there.

He has seen me through times when I wasn't sure I had the strength to make it, and his silent presence is a balm to my soul. He is my secret keeper. He alone knows everything about me, and he will never tell anyone. (Mostly because he can't!)

I honestly can't think of anything else I would save from a fire. Maybe attachment to a plant is weird, but so be it. This is the longest relationship I've ever had, and I will nourish it with every drop of water and every dissolvable grain of Miracle Gro.