Life of a Tree

When I was little I "helped" Pepa plant a tree in their front yard. I believe it was a sweet gum tree, but I could be wrong. Anyway, that was about 30 years ago - here's the proof:





A few months ago there was a seriously bad storm in Durant - no tornadoes reported on the ground but you'd never believe that by looking at all the damage. That tree that we planted was totally wrecked (this is most of it laying up right in front of the house):


If you've known me for any amount of time, I do NOT like change where it relates to things involving my childhood. I nearly threw a fit when Mema redecorated her kitchen and living room about 9 years ago (after at least 20 years of looking the same). They look quite lovely now, I just didn't like the idea of change. So, when mom called to tell me that the tree had given up the ghost, I was pretty upset. (I know, it's A TREE.) A few days after the initial call, mom called again to tell me that if I wanted, Mema's neighbor who is also a good friend of the family, would take some of the wood from the tree and carve me a Santa Claus. Of course I was thrilled - and even more so when I saw it a couple of weeks ago - here's the finished product:

Joe did a fantastic job (and from what I understand it was quite difficult) and now I have something tangible as a reminder of something I did with Pepa way back when.