The Living Plant

Not a lot of people know about my dad... We were pretty close when I was a young child but really did not have the opportunity to develop much of a relationship after I was about 13 or so.
He lived out of state. And I was a teenager. Enough said probably, right?
One of the things that infuriated me about him were the flowers he would send to me on my birthday. Now you are thinking, "that is so sweet of him to do", but to me it really wasn't for 3 reasons:

1- My little sister is the one who like fresh cut flowers, NOT me.
2- I do not particularly like fresh cut flowers because they DIE after a few days ( I know I could dry them and press them, but then I have basically waste that will clutter my home- this is a whole new topic in which for some reason the gene "pack rat" has been passed down from the females in my family) AND
3- If you can send me some flowers from Hy-Vee, just send me a plant or something that wouldn't die.

After I expressed the feelings to family and friends after several years, and several DEAD plants later, my best friend decides to get me an African Violet... She thought this would be clever because the African violets are know for their en durability. It dies too. In less time than the others, go me!!!
The best part of this whole story is that I was given one of the plants from my husbands grandfathers funeral, and IT LIVES. I have no idea what kind of plant it is, but it has out lived many others that I have to keep alive.