Many long years ago, I was temping in a local government office. The woman I was employed to assist was friendly and jovial in the workplace, so I enjoyed my extended stay at the reception desk.
One day close to the end of my assignment, my co-worker decided to do an office clean up; so, we rolled up our sleeves and scoured and organized every nook and cranny.
Toward the end of the day, I discovered that the potted office Dracaena - one spindly four-foot-tall stem with a sad frond on the top - was the subject of debate; and, the upshot was that it was dying and should be thrown out.
That's when I weighed in. I believed there was still life in the palm, so I offered to take it home with me. I carried it out to my car, crammed it into the front passenger seat beside me, and gave it a home on my back deck for the summer.
And there the Dracaena's lived every summer, since ... wintering in the family room on the other side of the sliding glass door. I've potted it up several times in the last ten years and after one such pot change, it grew a second stem.
This fall when the Dracaena made the transition indoors, I discovered the whole frond top of the second stem had been broken off - I blame the squirrels! I was devastated, though my husband optimistically assured me it might grow a new top.
So, I gave it a good watering and hoped there was still life left in the palm. Fast forward to this week, nearly 3 months later, when hubby's prediction came to pass in dramatic style: The Dracaena didn't just grow one new top, it grew two!
I hope my rescued plant lives on for many more years to come. It's a gentle living reminder that happy surprises can often sprout from unfortunate circumstances, if just given the chance.
