From Sandy Sarah: I first met Margaret many years ago when purchased plants from my garden center. She always purchased dichondra for her tortoises, as well as various other plants. She was always friendly and happy to chat. When we became acquainted by name, I realized that she was one of the founding members of the Tucson Dressage Club, of which I'm a member. So, horses were included in our chats. By this time she didn't have horses any more, but mine live in the back of my garden center. One day some years later, she came in and asked if I had any ZZ plants. I only had a piece of one that I had just re-rooted and wasn't in retail condition, so I gave it to her. As the years rolled on, she would come into my garden center and we'd chat while she made her purchases. Then, she came in one time, looked me in the eye, and announced that when she passed away, I was to receive her house plants! I thanked her and we continued to visit each time she came -- which became less frequent as the years rolled by. Last year, in May, she came in and said I needed to send someone to pick up her house plants. She had just sent her desert tortoise collection to the Desert Museum and really wasn't supposed to be driving any more. So I had my landscape crew stop by and pick up several large plants. Little did I know, that was not the end. Then, early this year, her nephew, Tim Otter, came into my garden center, introduced himself and stated that his sister Marlene would be in Tucson in a few days. Margaret was now residing in a care home, and was nearing the end of her life.... and.... I needed to come and pick up her plants! I then met Marlene and carried out Margaret's wishes about her plants. I went to visit her at the care home. She and the ladies were at the table having an early lunch, but we chatted and she told me all about her Aspidistra (which now has the place of honor in my home and is investigated regularly by my daughters cat). It seems that there was a Sherlock Holmes drama on NPR-TV, in which Sherlock advises his housekeeper to be very careful to keep the Aspidistra in a hallway because they don't like sun. Aspidistra is also known as a Cast Iron Plant. I found a small one in the nursery and sent it over so she could continue to enjoy it in her final weeks. My last visit with her was the day of the Rodeo Parade, and we watched the horses as they paraded through the largest totally non-mechanized parade anywhere. I'm sure Margaret is enjoying the hereafter life surrounded by her Aspidistra and other plants, her horses, and music, which was a third important love that I didn't know we shared. Now, through her generosity, I've made friends with her niece and nephew, Marlene and Tim, who so kindly took time out of their busy lives to travel to Tucson to care for their Aunt Marg.
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