We rode our bike to the Grand Canyon Skywalk. It was a long dusty hike from where we parked the bike, (saving money on parking). We finally reached the pay for parking area by the gift shop. Oh joy, that wasn’t even the skywalk. It was only where we could buy the opportunity to ride on the hot bus with the rest of the tourists to the skywalk. The price was a shocker. I explored the gift shop. Yeah, plants. There were two tiny saguaro in a painted bucket calling out to me. They were so fragile. Apparently, it is OK for the Grand Canyon Gift shop to grow protected species. So, I purchased Sticky and Thorny. They were overjoyed to get out of the gift shop. 

I padded around the little bucket for the long bike ride home, and lovingly put them in the RV next to the window. I promised to care for them like a mother. Time passed, and we moved back the rainy northwest. They complained. "It is too cold, it rains all the time, you have no sun in the window". But they lived.

They liked being in the same pot with company, but it got too small. Very carefully, they were transferred to a brightly colored big Mexican pot. Sticky and Thorny kept growing. Taller every year by an inch or so. I was so proud of my protected cacti.

“Hey guys, how would you like living on the back deck in the hot sunshine?” They agreed enthusiastically. The sun was blazing. I started watering them more often, afterall, they were right there by the kitchen door. Thorny started looking fat at the top first, and soon after, Sticky became swollen up as well. The base was only about an inch in diameter and their heads huge. Little tiny brown streaks opened up on the stalk. My hubby took one look.

“Honey, you are killing them!” Sure enough. They were crying, leaking sap, bleeding. I was watering them too much.

“Hey, Thorny and Sticky? I am so awfully sorry. You have gotten so tall! But you are too fat on the top, too skinny on the bottom, and really sick. It will break my heart if you die after all these years. Would you like to live in the lobby at the clinic? Most of our patients are Hispanic, you will remind them of home.”

They are now thriving, standing proud and tall in the clinic window. Another mother waters them. They are outgrowing their bloated stage, and thinning down very slowly. The brown streaks are only tiny scars, and they never cry anymore. Even prickly plants can feel loved.