Softball George Lives!

Allow me to tell you a story: About 6 years ago, Ryan and I and the kids moved to England for Ryan to do his PhD. We were fortunate to have our time there overlap by a year with my sister Stacy's Air Force assignment to England. Stacy has a friend named Janet. Janet dated a guy named George. George liked to talk about his softball team. A lot. So, my sister and her friends privately nicknamed him "Softball George." George gave Janet a plant. My sister and Janet privately named the plant, "Softball George." Janet moved away and gave Softball George (the plant, now, rather than the boyfriend, who was long gone at this time) to Stacy. Stacy moved away from England and gave Softball George to us. Keep in mind, at this point, that I have never been able to keep a plant alive (I will cite the examples of my husband Ryan's childhood cactus - given to him when he was 10 -- dead, soon after Ryan and I got married; and Wade Dumond's African violets - placed into my care when Wade went to Malawi as a missionary - soon, dead (the violets, not Wade, who, as I understand, is alive and happy) ) Nevertheless, we cared for Softball George and he thrived. We left England and gave Softball George to Josh and Bryonie, who not only cared for him in England, but also took him with them when they moved to Scotland. Josh finished his PhD and left Scotland for the USA. And I hadn't thought about Softball George for a long time. This week, Josh and Bryonie visited us in Ontario for an academic conference at Redeemer. At our table at lunch today, Ryan and I met Aaron, a friend of theirs from St. Andrews. Upon being introduced to us, Aaron exclaimed, "Oh - these are the people whose plant you gave us!" Softball George lives! Aaron and his family no longer live in Scotland, but they assured me that not only was Softball George still alive, that he was strong, healthy, quite tall, and living with another family. Who knows how far his legacy may stretch.