We have one and I have often cursed it.  That tree takes up a good part of our back yard.  Swing set?  No room.  A pool?  The whole neighborhood would have been disrupted.  In fact, I have always been convinced that our house, actually our entire neighborhood, was planned around that tree.

Most days, I’m complaining about the berries that slam into my deck making themselves oh so very noticed, the leaves that blow and blow and blow,  and oh, the things that grow high up in the ever expanding branches.  I’ve done my best over the years to convince my husband to take that big thing down – but I’ve never made any headway.

But here’s the thing – I think I had a revelation.

This past weekend we celebrated Eric with a low key get together with some family and friends in our backyard.   Remember how hot it was Sunday? I was kind of dreading making my family and friends melt. 

But then along came that tree.  We arranged the backyard so that most of us were being protected for most of the day by its cool reach.  We even moved our outdoor furniture right to the base of the tree to do what we could to say cool.  It was kind of miraculous.  Not a single guest complained about the heat. 

And now for the first time in over 20 years, I’m feeling a little protective of that tree.  Don’t even think about taking down one branch.

Things change.  Happy graduation Eric.