When my dad died in 2006, the assisted living residence sent a plant
for his funeral, a bright and distinctive orange-blossomed hibiscus.
My mother and I kept the plant, which stopped blooming after weeks of
flowering.

Early in 2007, when my mother was diagnosed with cancer, the hibiscus
once again began to bloom. She insisted on it going with her as she
traveled among hospital rooms and nursing homes, and all that time it
continued to bloom bright orange flowers.

After my mother died on April 10, my father's birthday, the hibiscus
again stopped blooming. The next year, in the spring, it bloomed again
one more time.

For the following years, I had an attractive green plant growing in my
front window. New shoots would sprout in the spring and every so often
I would repot the hibiscus. It was a memory of my parents, but it did
not bloom again.

Until 2017. On April 10, my father's birthday and the 10th anniversary
of my mother's death, the hibiscus bloomed again.