My Grandmother Talks to Plants

A Gift of Flowers

• This past Easter, my mother & I stopped the car along the side of the road to buy potted tulips for my grandmother. My grandmother & grandfather both share a liking for botany, as evidenced by their pseudo-greenhouse in their patio area. Most people would agree that my grandparents' plant collection is always flourishing & well presented. So my mother and I both knew instinctively that this potted tulip plant would have a great home with my grandparents.
• As I set the flower pot on my grandmother's kitchen table, I remembered an old saying that my grandmother had mentioned to me from time to time since I was a child. In the past when I would ask her how all of her plants grew so well, she would tell me, without hesitation, "I talk to my plants, and tell them how much I love them".

My Reactions

• Even as I child, I could tell by her tone that she honestly believed that her affection was making the plants grow better. As a teenager, I brushed this off as my grandmother being "grandmotherly", and politely smiled when she told me.
• Later on, when I was Engineering college student at Penn State, I was able to justify her claim in my head. I simply told myself that by breathing out carbon dioxide, she was "feeding" the plant more of what it breathed in naturally, so therefore, science was backing up her claim and she didn't even realize it.
• But lately, as I have been observing our ever-so-mysterious world, I have found myself finding answers to age old questions not only though traditional science, but a deeper perspective.

Starting to Believe

• This past weekend, I started to believe as faithfully as my grandmother, that it was her attention & affection that was helping these plants grow so well. A feeling of "my grandmother might be right after all" started to creep into my constantly analytical mind. I could not reconcile this notion with anything tangible, yet I somehow enjoyed the simplicity of it.
• In the days after, still thinking about it, I asked myself if a grandmother's affection would help a child grow? I came to my answer quickly, "Yes! Of course!" Maybe the love wasn't helping the child grow in "size", but it was helping a child grow in "radiance". A grandmother's love would surely improve the child's outlook on life, and bring a smile to the child's face, so this logic would seem to hold true with plants as well. The connection became clear to me, and my analytical mind was finally satisfied...
• Maybe the carbon dioxide was making the plants grow bigger, or maybe it was not - but I could safely say that my grandmother's love was allowing her plants to grow with more brilliance. These plants loved life, and it was evident to anyone who walked into her kitchen. My grandmother had created a garden of love and her plants were simply smiling back. Her plants were returning my grandmother's love back to her & anyone else who stepped into my grandmother's kitchen.

In Conclusion

• Now confident in my analysis, the next time my grandmother informs me of her "plant-nourishment" technique, I can smile back and say "Keep talking to your plants, Grandma - you are helping the world be a better place!"

Please pass along to anyone who talks to plants.
Remember: Sunshine Pie is a mindset. Keep it going.

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