While standing at the kitchen window a few weeks ago, I noticed a familiar yellow plant growing on the bushes in the open lot adjoining the property where I live. Although it caught my eye at the time, I did not pay close attention. However, this week the yellow plant seemed to have spread over a wider section and so I decided to go outside and take a look from the fence. Suddenly, I had childhood memories rushing through my mind of the Love Bush we tossed all over the hedges along the roadsides in Cascade where I grew up.

I was surprised to find the Love Bush growing in Newark, NJ because all along I thought this plant was tropical. Furthermore, it’s now October so in my mind it just did not make sense that a tropical plant could be thriving outside. After some consideration, I surmised that someone must have placed the Love Bush there after they cleared the land in the summer. Now that it has taken over a section of the land, I can see clearly that it is in fact the Jamaican Love Bush.

So what is the story of the Jamaican Love Bush? In my rural community, children in the 1970s would search for this parasitic plant, pull handfuls of it, and cast it over another host plant while calling out the name of their secret admirer. Then they would go back to the spot in a few days to see if the Love Bush started growing. If the plant thrived, legend stated that a romantic relationship would develop between the two in the future.

I am not certain why I have been thinking about the Love Bush all week because romance is the farthest thing from my mind these days. Maybe it’s because I have been experiencing small acts of kindness and love from the seniors at Westside Community Center. Last Friday, Daphne gave me a bottle of shampoo that she won in Bingo; she felt I could use it with the conditioner I had won that day. This week Hattie bought me a pair of warm pants for the winter after she learned that I was shopping around for a few. Connie who always has goodies in her bag, shared her honey with us to sweeten our tea. And Ernestine offered to bring me a bottle of aspirin after she learned that I have hypertension. Or how could I forget Blanche who gave me a new journal with the words of the Serenity Prayer on the cover after she heard that I enjoyed writing?

As we sat at the circular table after lunch, I kept thinking about how the simple story I wrote about the Senior Citizen Prom affected Harrison. With his right hand over his heart, he shared how he was touched after reading the words. That is the least that I could do for such a man who had served his country, volunteered on numerous occasions to transport Hattie and I over to Nellie Grier Senior Center, and represented us so well as the Prom King on September 29th. I now take this opportunity to say that I recognize, applaud and honor you Mr. Harrison Judkins!

Whether it is the Jamaican Love Bush growing wild in the vacant lot on 17th Street or the acts of love witnessed at Westside Community Center by the seniors and staff, I believe it is important to pause and learn from the lessons that nature teaches in ecology. Furthermore, we must stop to thank people for their kindness and show appreciation for even the smallest things that they do for us. By doing this, love and kindness become contagious and before you know it everyone is involved in sharing a little piece of themselves. Indeed, I was reminded this week that love can thrive in favourable environments when we do not expect it.