11 Days Later (Link)

I used to think that these plants were disposable. Helen Kowalik, one of the kindest people I've ever met, taught me otherwise. If you care for a plant it will respond positively. A little attention, sustenance, light and we can all thrive.

Four years ago I thanked G-d, writing, "You have never left me like an abandoned dandelion."

The Torah states that- on one level - man is a tree of the field.

My name means plant. Iyov uses my name in his statement that a tree has an advantage over man in that if cut it down, "It will sprout from just a scent of water and be harvested as a fresh sapling."

A young student is compared by the Gemorah to a seed: "Once it grows it grows!" The Gemorah is saying that teachers (and other assumed adults) need to be careful to recognize a seed for what it is, as its value is in its potential. If you don't know better a seed and a pebble look alike, and both deserve no better than to be skipped away.

A man once sat under a tree that had it all: leaves providing shade beauty, a nearby stream, wonderful fruits. In his innate appreciation for toward this living tree this fellow could think of nothing better than to bless the tree to have children like her/him.

The Giving Tree allowed a young boy to take everything it had to offer. At a funeral, once, a woman told this tale and cried about how it hurt her that the dead man gave but couldn't/wouldn't receive.