Mom's Angel Wing

When my Mom died 20 years ago, I inherited her house, personal belongings and all of her plants.  Not only living on this earth without my mother but having to deal with owning two houses, deciding what to keep and what to get rid of but I thought I had the responsibility of keeping her plants alive, which some were years and years old.  One of them was this HUGE Angel wing begonia.  I'm talking about a plant that was as tall as me with these gorgeous giant blooms on it.  It survived nicely in our back yard in Florida for seventeen years.  I even started several plants off of it.  When we moved to Alabama, Chuck put all of the plants up over the cab of the U Haul so that they wouldn't get crushed.  Everything seem to have made it.  Because it was winter time we put all the plants in the barn.  The problem was, it was the coldest winter in 40 years in Northern Alabama and we didn't have any electricity for six weeks.  That meant no way of keeping the plants from freezing in the barn.  I thought I had lost everything.  I cried the day I walked into the barn and saw the 65 year old stag horn fern all black.  Then there was the Angel wing begonia with no leaves left on it.  I told my Mom how sorry I was for losing her plants but in my heart I knew she would understand.  Well, come summer the stag horn started spouting new fronds but the Angel Wing was deader than a door nail.  Before we moved from our house in Florida, I had planted some of the Angel Wing in the ground by the deck.  Since Ryan's ex- sister in law had bought the house, Ryan and Michelle would go to the house where they grew up, to pick Genavive up from her Aunts.  When Michelle found out that I had lost Mom's big begonia, she asked Jenny if she could have a couple of pieces from the one that I had planted in the ground.  Jenny being nice as she always is, said " sure".  So, long story short....when we moved Michelle to Nashville last winter, she had the begonia from our Florida house.  Mom's Angel Wing Begonia!  I took care of the precious plant all winter long until it was big enough for me to cut two pieces from it to start my own.  Michelle now has the original from the one from Florida but now I also have Mom's Angel Wing begonia back!!!  I know Mom would be proud of both of us for keeping her plant living in our lives.  Thank you Aunt Jenny for sharing part of the plant that I had started and thank you to Michelle for asking Jenny to share it with her and letting me have the chance to start a new plant off of hers.  This plant will always have a special place in our house and in my heart.