You may or may not remember a post that I wrote on Monday,
April 21, 2014. Let me refresh your
memory……
This is an excerpt from that blog on that particular day in 2014….
Today, we feel super sad and it is all
because of a 30 something year old tree and a BUG! Who knew something could
make several family members feel sad! The Emerald ash borer bug that is, that
infects trees. OUR ash tree. When I woke up today, I took the girls out at 6:45
a.m. to play on their FAVORITE TREE. One last time. As I drove down the road
after playing on the tree with them and taking pictures, I passed the tree
service coming to our house, and my heart and stomach sank to the ground
immediately. All of the memories of my girls and this tree were flashing
through my mind at that moment. And those that know me, know that there are
very FEW things that I get sappy about. This particular tree was an ash tree
and when we moved in to our house, 3 years ago, it instantly became their
favorite because it had a swing on one of the branches. It was UNIQUE.
NOSTALGIC, to say the least. Forget that we had a play set in the back with
swings. THIS WAS THE ONE. That they played on, all day every day, for 3 plus
hours. And I, as well as Bob, smiled from ear to ear watching their ENJOYMENT.
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What a BEAUTIFUL tree that had to be cut down!
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The last photo with the ASH tree in 2014
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Fast forward 3 years. I am outside in the yard, right before Mother’s
Day. It was very late in the day and it
was time to call it a wrap! Yet, I was daydreaming
about the beautiful weather and I caught myself staring at A TREE! You know you are tired when you are staring
at a tree!! It was in that moment that I
had an AHA MOMENT! You know those
moments. Where something just DAWNS on
YOU! I ran to the barn and grabbed that
tree limb with the swing attached that once housed so many memories and LOVE
for the girls, and for us. And the
wheels were still turning….HOW can I hang this swing for the girls to this ASH
tree that we have desperately been trying to save. It’s the last one of 13 trees that we have
NOT had to cut down. I ran to ACE
hardware with both girls in tow, as they grabbed every paint card imaginable in
the paint section to make a craft, AND I got the tools necessary to get the job
done! YEAH!!! Meanwhile, they had NO IDEA what I was
doing.
Bob came home and we had 40 minutes before we
had to head to a soccer practice on a Friday night. All dolled up in his suit and tie…..I said…Can
YOU pretty please hang this swing…..it will only take 5 minutes!!! And he laughed at me, as he always does. Does anything ever only take 5 minutes? In two shakes of a rabbit’s tale, he had the
swing hung up! VICTORY! After it was hung, I decided it needed to be
beautiful and magical for the girls, as it once was. I started drilling holes in tree limbs to
hang baskets of flowers. Put a few pots
around the tree with annuals. Included a
sign that says “Love makes everything grow” from my 70-year old neighbor that
moved. LOVED HER! I put Giselle’s old monkey rain boots in
front of the tree that she wore when she was 3 years old and stuck some flowers
in there too.
WHO was the first daughter to run out there
and her EYES lit up like Christmas when she saw her old swing back? It was Giselle! And what did she say? MOMMY!!!
OUR OLD SWING IS BACK! YOU DON’T NEED
TO MAKE IT ANYMORE BEAUTIFUL…the SWING IS ENOUGH!!! And Isabella was the second to notice
it. NOW?
They both continue to fight over their old friend that has been
re-introduced again. Endless hours of
LOVE and MEMORIES to be once yet re-created on a NEW tree………….The saying goes…Life
is not measured by TIME….It is measured by creating Memories….Here are a few
pictures of the ash tree that was over 30 years old and had to be cut down and
here are a few pictures of the ash tree that now houses that swing that is
LOVED so much!
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| The hardware photo so I could talk intelligently with the gentleman at ACE hardware! |
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The old ash tree branch with swing still attached.
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