When I was growing up in Crownsville, Maryland, one of the best things about living on Wilson Rd was the thick woods! We had endless opportunities for tree climbing and fort making and we took advantage of them often! One such tree still holds a special place in my heart. We named her the "love tree". On her trunk are carved all of the initials of grade school crushes that my neighborhood friends and I had during those fickle elementary school years.
We visited this tree in 1998 during a trip to MD just to see if she was still there....she was! My husband carved a new entry into the trunk that year and my little brother who was too young to know the Love Tree when she was just a young sap, also made his claim to her by carving his initials into her trunk.
Last week my mom and I drove out to see the old neighborhood and we stopped to see if we could find the Love Tree. We were thrilled to find her still growing tall, proud and untouched right there in the woods between Jenny Savin's house and a newly cut road.
Secret crushes and declarations of best friendships are immortalized on her trunk and if you listen really close when you stand beneath her branches you can hear the laughter of little children in the rustling of her leaves.
1 comment:
My husband's family has a "family tree" on the farm where his grandparents lived. We carved our initials in the Christmas after we were married. That was over 15 years ago, and unfortunately, we haven't been back to see the tree (we've been to visit the family but not hiked back to the tree). We need to take the kids and carve their initials in. Maybe this winter...
Post a Comment