The unexpected grief of losing a houseplant

Shreya Hewett
Nov 4 · 6 min read

I woke up this morning to find that my little aloe vera plant had finally given up on me. Its leaves — which for some time now had been withering at the edges, the plant tilting further and further sideways in a slow-motion collapse — lay flat, separated from the base of the plant as if pounded by a fist from above. The plant’s base itself oozed with aloe gel, its final parting gift to me, a far cry from the crackly leaves at the outer edges.

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Shreya Hewett

Written by

Woman, immigrant, mother, millennial

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