What an Aloe Plant Growing Beyond Its Pot Taught MeHow a “Good Luck Charm” Changes Its Role as Life Changes (Tuesday) July 7, 2026 Reiwa8

Today, the side effects of my pain medication made me sleep deeply during the day.

I went outside intending to take a walk, but the summer heat was overwhelming, so I turned back almost immediately.

“I couldn’t even take a walk today.”

Feeling a little disappointed, I spent some time in my usual massage chair before dinner.

As I gazed absentmindedly out the window, my eyes fell on the aloe plant on my balcony.

It has grown so much since I moved here.

In fact, it has become so large that it is spilling over the edges of its pot.

The rainy season and the intense summer sunshine must have helped it thrive.

It looks wonderfully healthy.

Looking at it somehow made me smile.

I brought this aloe plant with me from Shizuoka as a kind of “good luck charm” for burns.

When my children were little, and even when I burned myself while cooking, aloe had helped us many times.

One memory, in particular, has stayed with me.

When my oldest son was still very young, we went camping as a family.

My husband stepped away for a moment after saying,

“Don’t touch this, no matter what.”

But my son was a naturally curious child.

Of course, he touched it anyway and burned himself.

My husband hurried into the mountains to search for an aloe plant.

When he finally found one and placed the fresh aloe on the burn, my son felt much better by the next day.

Ever since then, I have carried a simple belief in my heart:

“When you’re in trouble, aloe will help.”

That is why, when I moved to Matsuyama, I brought the plant with me without a second thought.

Then, after settling into my new life at Eden no Sono, I realized something.

I hardly cook anymore.

I rarely use fire.

The most I do is pour hot water into a cup of instant noodles.

There is almost no chance of getting burned.

In other words, this aloe plant has no real job here.

And yet, it is the healthiest thing on my balcony.

It keeps growing bigger and bigger, stretching far beyond its pot.

Sometimes I find myself laughing and asking,

“What exactly did you come here for?”

Then I realized something.

Perhaps the aloe was never just a remedy for burns.

It also carried precious memories of my family and the quiet reassurance that, if something happened, we would somehow be all right.

Plants have a mysterious way of holding memories.

Simply seeing them can bring back people, places, and moments we thought had faded.

The aloe no longer needs to heal burns for me.

Instead, it has quietly brought a part of my life in Shizuoka and my years of raising children into my new home.

Today, it continues to grow under the bright summer sun, overflowing its pot with life.

Whenever I look at it, I find myself thinking,

“I’m glad you’re doing well, too.”

And then I realize that I have been recovering as well.

I can take a shower again.

I can tie my hair by myself.

I can do my laundry by adapting the way I hang my clothes.

I may not be growing as dramatically as my aloe plant, but I am healing, little by little.

Plants grow with time.

People heal with time.

Today, my overflowing aloe plant reminded me of that simple truth.

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