Little Green

Once upon a time in a dusty old plant shop, a story about a young girl named Maya Pearl began. It was in this shop that the girl and her grandmother visited often to look at the many beautiful, exotic plants that lined the walls and windows. Walking hand in hand, they strolled along the sidewalk in the early afternoon, talking about their favorite flowers, and how wonderful it would be to get a new plant every time they were there. Looking in from the outside, Maya always thought the place looked like a jungle, green stems and leaves twisted around one another, with colors and shapes and sizes in pots everywhere.

These moments were special, as it was not every day that Maya got to spend with her beloved grandmother, “Lala Nana” as she called her. They lived apart, many miles and states away from one another. Every time they were together, it was as if time had never passed.

Maya was a spunky girl, with two younger brothers and no sisters, and she loved having one on one time with her beautiful Nana. Some days they would go to a salon where the ladies called Lala Nana “Miss Ollie”. Maya would listen to silly stories the grownups would tell her, and watch her grandmother’s hair be put up in rollers and her fingernails painted red.

Lala Nana always promised a treat for being so patient at the salon, and never forgot. Sometimes it was ice cream or lunch, sometimes a small toy or a new dress. But what Maya loved more than anything was when they went to the plant shop. It was like a museum, or a library the way everything was displayed on shelves. And it was so quiet, the only noise coming from the front door that creaked a bit when opened, with a small bell that hung on the top and rang to let the owner know someone was there. Once inside, there was nothing to do but think about where all of those plants came from, and how big they would grow. Sometimes Maya asked the shop keeper questions and tried to remember all of the names of the different species. But it was hard because there were so many, and they were all so green! The plants with flowers were easier to remember, but still the names were often strange and hard to pronounce.

Geranium, Hyacinth, Dahlia, Begonia…..some of the hardest, but then there were Roses, Tulips, Lilies and Daisys that were easy to remember and Maya’s favorite because of their beauty.

After a long time, she would get tired and want to leave, knowing Lala Nana could talk on and on with the shop keeper about all the plants and how much she loved learning new gardening things. She even sang songs about plants to try to help Maya learn all the names. She loved to sing, and it made Maya smile, the way she always made a rhyme to help her remember hard things.

“Maya Pearl, come here and help me pick out a plant to take home today”.

To her surprise, she jumped up and said “Really?”.

“Yes dear, really. I want you to take one home too!”

“How about this one!”, Maya said excitedly, pointing to a huge Hibiscus with big pink flowers. “Oh heavens, not today silly… we have to find a small plant that you can learn how to care for and help grow”.

She looked around and tried to find something that would be fitting, but nothing small had pretty flowers that she liked. Just as she started to get frustrated, the shopkeeper said, “Here you go young lady. This one is on the house. Take good care of it and I promise you will have it for a very long time. All it needs is love and patience, and it will be bigger than you someday”.

Maya took the strange little plant from the nice man, and tried to imagine how it could ever be bigger than she was. It was a sad little leaf and a stem in a glass of water. Not even in a pot with dirt! She looked up at her grandmother with big eyes, hoping it was a joke, but there was a loving smile looking back at her and she knew it was Nana’s way of telling her it was the perfect choice. So, she carried it carefully out of the shop, down the sidewalk, into the car and started the journey of learning how to care for such a thing.

Before Maya went back home, she sat with her Nana and talked about how to take care of her new plant. It felt like she was going to have a lot to do to make sure it survived, and Lala Nana knew just how to help. She wrote everything down and sent her home with a new pot and a bag of soil to make her very first garden plant grow big and strong. “The most important thing you need to do is give it a name and talk to it every day, so it knows it is loved”, Nana said. Maya thought long and hard about that, but before she could think of a name Lala Nana said, “You should call it Little Green, because it’s small like you are now, but you will both grow up together if you take good care of it. Plants need sunshine and water just like we do, and a good conversation to keep us happy”. And so “Little Green” went home with Maya a few days later, with hopes and dreams of being big and tall someday.

Years went by, and things were different as Maya grew older. Her closeness to her grandmother became more distant, with school activities and the changes that happen as people grow up. They talked mostly on the phone and saw each other less often because of the business of life. Little Green grew bigger every year as well, going from a propagated leaf to a medium sized plant, and soon after a small tree, and continued to grow even when Maya had to prune its leaves for fear of it reaching the top of the ceiling in her living room.

Lala Nana always asked about Little Green, however as years went by, their conversations became simpler, due to her grandmother’s age and forgetfulness. When Maya became a mother, their phone calls were focused on the children and how fast they were growing up.

Little Green became a part of many lives as it grew from a little leaf into a beautiful Fiddle Leaf Fig tree. It was the center of Maya’s home, and a part of her family. A part of her history. Each leaf held a memory that included a special time in her life. From childhood to becoming an adult. From holding her grandmother’s hand, to holding her own children’s as they walked to the park. This special plant was there when Maya heard her grandmother had passed away and filled the room with love as she talked to her children about their great grandmother’s life.

This story is about the connection we have to nature and how it impacts us in everyday life. As children we walk through life guided by elders, surrounded by nature. The trees, the sky, the ocean, sun and the moon are all things we ask about during the earliest years of development. Without nature, we would be completely lost and closed off to the world. With nature, we can learn, be nurtured, be healthy and thrive. Even the most difficult of circumstances include plants and flowers. We are surrounded by nature in every aspect of life, from birth to death, and so many celebrations and hardships in-between. What “Little Green” brings to a young Maya Pearl is the story we all know and have witnessed. It’s about learning how to care for one another, to connect and to remember what is most important in life. Living and sharing love.

-Kelly