On plants and plant metaphors

Is it weird to have a very emotional bond to a plant?

I'm terrible at keeping plants alive. I've had cacti that have died of thirst, that's how terrible I am. That being said, I bought a basil plant to use for cooking, and ended up not using the whole thing. I watered it sporadically, and to my great surprise, it survived. I ended up giving it a pot of its own, and a name, Greg, and Greg and I became friends. I didn't use any of the basil leaves either, I just wanted him to grow and look healthy. I'd occasionally forget to water for a few days, during which time he'd start looking a bit dry, but would perk right back up again after a day or two of TLC. Today, after having avoided the kitchen due to an intense desire to be away from social contact for a while, I saw Greg and remembered that I hadn't given the poor thing water in ages. He's still alive, but looking pretty bad, and I just felt heartbroken.

I didn't mean for it to happen, obviously, and I'm hoping that with some serious care he can get back to his usual plant antics, but in terms of metaphors for life, it fits pretty well. Some things deteriorate when you leave them because you're not feeling well, even if you care very much about them. Some can be nursed back to health if you catch it in time, but sometimes it's dead. Sometimes you need to deal with things you find unpleasant (in this case, social interaction) to save something that's precious to you (Greg). They say you can gauge your emotional responsibility by the scale 'plants -> pets -> people': when you can successfully take care of plants, you can progress to pets. When you've mastered pets, you can care for people. I don't know how true it is, or really where I'm going with these plant ramblings, but I wish very much for Greg to survive and come back to me. As stupid as it sounds, I love that plant.

After seeing Greg, the shock made me actually get my act together a bit. Did laundry, shopping, decent eating and the rest of my cleaning. The Snorlax costume works pretty well as a shield against the world so I can do shit I don't really want to. I even went to the store in it, which I'm sure caused some looks. I didn't bother putting my contacts in, so I didn't really see peoples' actual reactions, but I'm telling myself that everyone thought I looked adorable, because that's the way I want to see the world.