The old plant

Dracaena trifasciata (on the right)

Yesterday Catherine watered her snake plant, which she does every two months or so. This plant came from the home (412 Strathmore Blvd., the residence of William Edward Hall and Annie Harriett Edwards from 1927 to 1932) of George Hennessy subsequent to his death on 28 Dec 1969. After his third wife, Annie (Hall, previously mentioned), died on 26 Aug 1963, George travelled from Toronto to England to look up (unsuccessfully) the remnants of his family, having had abandoned in 1919 his first wife and their children. Here he discovered that he had a niece (Catherine's mom) also living in Toronto!

I'm not sure when they first got together but I have photographs of him dated 1966. By this time George was 86 and losing his vision. Catherine and her mom used to go to George's house to help out with household chores. Here's an undated photo of George with two of his sister Ada's daughters (Elsie, on the left, who had travelled from England to be here, and Lilian, on the right, Catherine's mom):

The plant is indisputably 51 years old. If it was Annie's Sansevieria, 57 or more. A couple of websites suggest that the longevity of this plant is 20 to 25 years. Clearly, nobody knows.