Sandra Dee

Some six years ago I gave my mom a tiny Christmas cactus that I had found in a Kroger store in Dayton. It had 3 shoots of green and they were about 4 inches tall. Mother kept it on her windowsill for several months until it outgrew that location. At that point, she decided that I should take it home so it had more room to grow. I named it Sandra Dee for reasons I cannot explain - the name just seemed to fit her. And I give everything a name.

Over these six years, Sandra Dee has been in various locations of the house - even spent a summer on the porch - and has been repotted 4 times. When she could get to her, our cat Kady considered Sandra Dee a tasty snack. It often has seemed that Sandra Dee flourishes when I am away and Amanda cares for her in my absence. I don't take it personally. Moving along, she didn't bloom for a couple of years - then, finally, deep pink blossoms appeared all over her around Thanksgiving. I figured she had her calendar dates mixed up. She has bloomed for the last three years around that same time so I now know that she is a Thanksgiving Cactus (there really is such a thing). She tried to tell me - I wouldn't listen. The last 8 months or so, she has begun partially blooming at unexpected times - in February - and, then, in late June, she had a few buds that didn't actually open. I don't know what she is trying to tell me but I really am listening.

Sandra is a mother to three offspring. My daughter Amanda has one of the girls that she has named DeeDee. Like her mother plant, DeeDee is taking her time about blooming but I have confidence that she will in time. My sister, Glenda, has two of Sandra Dee's offspring. Glenda could make a rock grow so her girls are doing quite well and have bloomed at least once; but, again, like their mother plant, they have lately been blooming at unexpected times of the year.

This is a picture of Sandra Dee. She has grown to be about 18 inches tall and 24 inches wide. She lives in the dining room, which has been due for redecoration for years. Maybe that's what she is trying to tell me - get on with it. Blue is not her color. I hear you, Sandra Dee!