It Ain't Necessarily So

I got them almost a year ago, to serve as a centerpiece for a dinner party. They were the only flowers available that coordinated with the tablecloth and place settings. During the course of the evening, I bemoaned the fact that African violets were so fragile and virtually impossible to keep alive. I was immediately corrected, in tandem, by two of my guests.

“Nonsense! They are the simplest possible plants to keep alive,” said one.

“All you need to do is put them in an east window and water them every once in a while,” said the other.

I did not believe them. I distinctly remembered being told how difficult it was to harbor and nourish African violets. I had learned this at my mother’s knee, then waist, then shoulder, then eye to eye. She was unwavering in her conviction that these were the most vulnerable of all houseplants.

Still. I put the little plant on the ledge of an east window and watered it when I thought about it. It didn’t die. It didn’t flower but it didn’t die.

And now – look!

How many of the things we believe are impossible, aren’t? How many of the things we were told growing up are fallacy? How many of the things we believe we cannot do, we can?

Good questions all. And all answered by a blooming African violet.