A Tale of Two Trees

When our oldest daughter was four she asked for a pink tree for her birthday.
We thought this was an adorable request for such a small child to make, so we obliged.
We took her to a local nursery and let her pick out a small, flowering weeping cherry tree that was full of little pink flowers.  She was delighted.

When we got home we let our four year old choose exactly where she wanted her pink tree to be planted.   She roamed the front yard for a while and then at a certain point she stuck her feet firmly in the ground and with a voice full of certainty she shouted, "Here!  This is the spot"

So, we dug a hole deep enough, threw some top soil in and called it a day.

I'd like to say we gave that tree a lot of tender loving care, but at the time we had a four year old and a two year old and we had other priorities.   Every now and then we would remember to water it when we saw the leaves starting to wilt.   Every year we would throw some top soil it's way if there was leftovers from gardening elsewhere in the yard.   And, if weeds were crowding it's trunk from time to time we would pull them.  Sometimes.

Not to say the tree didn't thrive.   Despite our neglect the tree thrived beautifully.   Every spring she (I like to give it that pronoun, although it hasn't stated a gender preference) gave us a canopy of beautiful pink buds.    She was the backdrop for every first day of school picture and she grew with the kids, first a sapling with a weak trunk, then a young tree that's trunk would still sway in the breeze, and finally a sturdy tree that could withstand any storm.   She was the centerpiece to our daughter's six year old fairy party.   Fairies lived in her for years and would sometimes leave notes for our daughters and they would write back.   Sometimes my daughter, the one who requested her, would stare dreamily out the window when she was in full bloom and just exclaim "I just love my pink tree!"  She did this at 6, 8, 10, and maybe even at 22.

This is not an obituary.  The pink tree is still doing fine and well.

However, a few years ago when a delivery truck came to our house and almost hit a electric wire running to our house, I suddenly looked up and realized that the tree was about to grow into the electric wire as well.  Oh No!   So, that year we had to prune her considerably to make sure she didn't interfere with the power.   How on earth did we never think to look up when we planted the tree?  That line had always been there.   Why didn't we think to look up?

So now we keep a watchful eye on the tree.   We make sure she is safe from the wires and now she grows wide instead of tall, but she still thrives despite our neglect and our obliviousness.  

In fact, unlike the famous tree in the book, "The Giving Tree" none of us have asked anything of her other than shade she naturally provides and the joy her pretty flowers give to us every spring.   The kids have moved out and she keeps growing and thriving and is a welcome site to them when they come home.   No one has ever asked for a branch, a trunk, or even a leaf from her.   Even her flowers are hers to keep until the wind or rain forces them from her branches to the ground below.  The girl who requested her all those years ago will even ask for pictures of her in full bloom when she is not home to see the "show".     In our opinion, she is simply the best giving tree ever.

But, this is not the end of my story.

This past weekend we planted a new tree in our yard.   My husband and I literally walked all over our yard looking for the ideal place to plant it.   We looked up and around and for shade and for sun.
"It won't thrive here!" one of us would say, "too shady", "too sunny", "it will block the windows", "it will break up the yard".

It was an exhausting process but we finally agreed on a place after squabbling over "a little to the left, a little to the right".   But before we put a spade in the earth we looked up, down and sideways to make sure it was the perfect place for it.   Once the hole was dug we turned the tree around and around to make sure the best side was facing the street and that the branches would grow to offer shade in just the right places.    I've been diligently watering it every day.

But despite the fact that this tree will surely be tended to fastidiously by an empty nester couple eager to nurture, I wonder if it will thrive as well as the other tree that was just plopped into the earth one day by a four year old girl with no clue, who had parents who were too busy to water her or look up at the dangers looming ahead.

But she grew beautifully despite all this, because a girl loved the tree.....

And the tree was happy.