In a letter to Winnie, Mandela related a story about a beautiful tomato plant that began to wither and die. Despite his attentions, nothing he could do would bring it back to health, and he eventually buried the roots in the garden. Mandela felt that, despite his best intentions, he was not able to nourish many of the most important relationships in his life and did not want his relationship with Winnie to go the same way.