A Loving wife in Johannesburg in South Africa sadly passed away from ovarian cancer back in 2014, but before she passed, she made a special request to her husband. She asked him to water and care for the beloved plants that she had placed in their bathroom, to help them thrive. It turned out to be a loving Prank, as the plants were artificial, but her husband watered and cared for them for years.
Wife’s final request to her loving husband was a prank
Before Phadre Fitton passed away in 2014, she gave her husband, Nigel Fitton, detailed instructions on how to care for and water the much-loved plants she had placed in their bathroom.
According to a recent tweet by their daughter, Antonia Nicol, Nigel diligently obeyed his wife's instructions, caring for the plants and watering them for years. Despite not having the proverbial “green thumb,” he ensured the plants stayed green and lush.
Before my mum passed away, she gave my dad strict instructions to water the plants in the bathroom. He's been religiously watering them & keeping them alive. They look so amazing he decided to take them to his new home, only to discover they are plastic! Can hear my mum chuckling pic.twitter.com/N87giD5zKT
— Antonia Nicol (@Flaminhaystack) January 16, 2018
As reported by CTV News, Nicol was helping Nigel move from his home into a nursing home in 2016 and among the belongings he took with him were his wife’s beloved plants.
It was at that stage they found out that the plants Nigel had been so lovingly caring for over the years were, in fact, made of plastic. In Nicol’s tweet, she said she could hear her mum chuckling over the prank.
Bathroom too dark for real plants
It turned out Phadre had decided the bathroom was too dark for real plants to thrive and she had purchased realistic artificial plants instead, but Nicol said the family had no idea.
She told CTV News that they all found it hilariously funny, especially her dad, who was so impressed that the plants had survived his care and that he didn’t kill them off.
Mother had a cheeky sense of humor
Nicol added that her mother had definitely had a “cheeky Sense Of Humor.” The New York Daily News quotes Nicol as saying the prank had made the whole family happy to remember Phadre this way.
She also added that the story hitting the media had brought joy into Nigel’s life after he sent her a message to say it had brought a tear to his eye. He added that he hopes the story makes people happy.
Amazing prank dying wife played on husband - he only realised after she'd gone https://t.co/mY7ommxHLg
— Antonia Nicol (@Flaminhaystack) January 19, 2018
According to Nicol, her parents had been together since they were 16 and were the best of friends. She added that they did everything together, including work and travel. Nicol also said the story had caused the family and their friends to chat about her mother again, which she said is really lovely and that it feels as though Phadre is right there, laughing along with them.
Following the viral success of her tweet, Nigel asked Nicol to tweet a further image of him reenacting his dutiful plant watering, to keep the story alive.
@dannywallace my dad has loved this story being on here so much, he's reenacted watering the ferns 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/1NJpoYbpY8
— Antonia Nicol (@Flaminhaystack) January 17, 2018
A nice touch was the beautiful bouquet of flowers and a real fern, sent to Nicol by a local business after the story broke.
Have just received the most stunning bouquet of beautiful flowers and a REAL fern from @BloomandWild & @oskarpearson
— Antonia Nicol (@Flaminhaystack) January 19, 2018
The card reads "We enjoyed your mother's sense of humour and your story so much. Please enjoy these with our complements"
Thank you so much ♥ ♥ @dannywallace pic.twitter.com/PfGuPPIIIA