In an effort to line my windows with pet friendly greenery, I said yes to a money tree. I have always been suspicious of these plants, terrified that I would kill them and also that it would be tied, like a bad tarot reading, to the success of my practice.

I didn’t do a lot of research on the tree when I got her, which now haunts me because I recognize the suffering she has wrongfully endured. This tropical native has been living in temperatures 15 degrees colder than she would have preferred. She has been over and under watered based on my lack of awareness, and the Hudson Valley didn’t help either by depriving us all of winter sun.

With a heavy heart and a shocking display of ignorance, I have watched her decline leaf by leaf.

Myrna deserved better.

The shoulds started piling up:

• I should have researched more about her and offered her different accommodations.

• I should have fended off my furry beast who likes to bat at her and sit in her soil.

• I should have learned the ways that she liked to be watered instead of following a routine.

With each passing week, I was killing my friend with passivity, overwhelm, and resistance to change.

But as I got to know her, it turns out that she’s a survivor. I learned that she likes to be soaked and left alone, that she prefers the Spanish pronunciation of Myrna and she likes a good misting every now and again. I would sit with her between sessions and hold her pot enthusiastically. She may not have loved this because jostling her is another no no, but my heart was in the right place.

On a recent return from Manhattan on the day after the Vernal Equinox, there was Myrna with not one, but many baby leaves attempting to sprout. I was so delighted that I snapped a photo of her progress.

I do not know whether she will survive my nascent attempts at horticulture. Nor am I willing to tether my success to hers, but I do know that she has found the strength to keep going and growing at Tenth House as have the many souls including mine who have graced the space with courage and an imperative to thrive.

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