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Health & Fitness

Goodbye Old Tree

Goodbye old tree.

Yesterday I watched a crew of men take down a beautiful old tree across the street that grew in the yard of the house my mother-in-law once lived in.

She passed away many years ago, but somehow that tree allowed me to feel as if she was still with us. It towered high above her little house in the backyard, so we could always see it from the front of our house. She used to love to go into her  yard and marvel at the beauty of this tall tree. We have a photo of her sitting under it on a summer day,with a big smile on her face. 

This tree had to stand 50 or more feet tall. Most of the afternoon I watched the workmen use machinery to move the disassembled stumps into the front yard. I could not believe how wide the largest chunks of the stump were. After the men left for the day, I took my camera across the street and took a few photographs. As I looked at the center of the largest sections of the trunk, her many rings of life were exposed for me to see.

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It caused my mind to wander. I thought about how many baby birds had nested in her branches over the years, and how many cold winter's she had endured. I wondered how many children had played under her as she provided them  shade during the hot summer months. I pondered how much rain had her roots taken in over the decades she has stood healthy and proud, growing and growing. 

A wave of sadness passed over me as I walked back to my house. 

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I  just want that old tree to know that she was appreciated, and that she was loved. And most of all, that she will be missed.

Just like I miss my mother in law, who once lived across the street.          

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