I remember one Memorial Day when I visited my daughter in her new home and helped her a little with her first gardening efforts. She had a hanging basket that was shriveling daily despite her best attempts at pampering it in every way imaginable. So, we visited a gardening center and bought some replacement flowers I felt would do well on her porch.

I yanked the pitiful, nearly dead guy out the basket and threw it aside. “If you don’t want to live, I know someone who will” I said as I repotted the basket. Silly to be talking to a plant on its last legs.

We moved on and planted more summer annuals near the garage. On a whim, I turned to our basket discard, limply lying on the sidewalk and said: “Would you like one more chance?”

I threw it into a leftover hole none too gently but did at least give it a drink of water. We stood back and I solemnly proclaimed: “It’s up to you now. Live or die. If you want to live, you better start fighting for it.” And — no more coddling.

I asked my daughter afterward what had happened since I’d left. Well, amazingly, this little guy perked up and evidently decided to live and “bloom where he is planted” as the old saying goes.

I’m glad because I like survivors — whether plants or people. I’ve known some folks planted in some pretty difficult ground with little to no pampering and yet they somehow chose life.

What about you? No matter where you are planted, have you decided to survive? Don’t look for coddling – if you want to live, fight for it!