Moth orchid

“What can you get a lady who is 84?”

“Something for the kitchen?”

“Forty knives, a score of dinner plates, a dozen saucepans. For somebody who lives alone?”

“A pet? I heard keeping a cat is very soothing and helps people live longer.”

“There are people who like cats and there are those who don’t. Guess which.”

“OK. A plant?”

Later at the plant shop.

“A moth orchid?”

“Ooooh, I like that.”

“Would she?”

“She used to cultivate orchids. In a special shade house. But it’s up a steep track and she can’t walk up there any more. An indoor orchid would be perfect.”

"Giving presents is a talent; to know what a person wants, to know when and how to get it, to give it lovingly and well. Unless a character possesses this talent there is no moment more annihilating to ease than that in which a present is received and given." Pamela Glenconner.