The Story of My Poinsettia's Near-death Experience

As Alyssa prepared to go on her mission, she handed me what looked like a potted plant and asked me to take care of it. She said it was a poinsettia and she wanted me to have it while she was gone, like the love fern Kate Hudson gave Matthew McConaughey in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. I hesitated, thinking back to my extensive background (maybe a week) of babysitting plants. 

• Babysitting two of her plants over a long weekend (few plants can die in a week, even with my care).
• Conducting a science experiment in fourth grade (where I watered the plants with coffee to see if they would grow).
• ... and that's it.

She can't be seriously thinking of me, I thought. Doesn't she know my record? I feed them foreign substances just to see if they can handle the real world!

Alyssa shook the plant a bit to get me to take it, snapping me out of my daze. Slowly I reached out my hands until I touched it. She proceeded to shove it the rest of the way into my arms, not realizing that she was signing its death sentence by doing so.

I took an oath nonetheless to take care of this plant as best I could. I took it home and sat it on my table facing the western sky (thinking that by default it had to survive because I was giving it life).

For the first couple months I tried to water it as best I could. This meant watering it every third Thursday and only if I happened to be in the kitchen at all that day. Its leaves were falling off before they had a chance to grow. What few remained were turning brown at the edges and only sporting a light green throughout the rest of the leaf.

The bottom half of the stem is full of stubs that should have been long, beautiful leaves, but shriveled away due to a lack of nourishment. The ground was like a graveyard of rotting pieces that should have lived for months to come. Seriously, I have no idea how it survived those hard months.

But survive it did and I've finally taken responsibility of the plant. I consciously water it every day, making sure that the soil stays damp, but not flooded. I even took the time to Google "Poinsettia Care." That's love if you ask me.

Let me tell you the difference it has made to! This little baby is perking back up. I examined the leaves the other day and they are GREEN. And I don't mean no brown, I mean a deep, gorgeous green that screams health! I took a picture of it to share with you (conveniently forgetting to take a before picture back when it was dying). Take a look!

I'm waiting for those awesome red leaves to develop up top but I have faith that with time they'll come. :) Also, there is another plant, Steve, poking out in pieces in the background. Ignore the yellowing leaves. They no longer have a place on my Poinsettia.

It got me thinking of a simple truth though. Children are like Poinsettias. The more you nourish them, the better they grow. Lessons in morality and kindness are the water. Teachings of personal worth and opportunity are the sun's glorious rays. They bring hope and life to everything they touch. The potential on these kids are only limited to their overall lifespan. Other than that they can grow taller and more beautiful than ever.

In contrast, the more you neglect them on a table with half closed blinds, the less opportunities they'll have. More leaves brown and fall than grow in these environments. With little hope, understanding, and moral values, how can they ever reach even a fraction of their potential before they give up? Pushes me to be a nurturing father when I grow up. What does that mean though? and how do you overcome fear to make it happen?