Change

This is all that's left of the huge, gorgeous tree in our back yard. I was so charmed by this beauty when we first looked at the house. And, it was an amazing moment for me when we first moved in and my daughters climbed on our VERY OWN TREE in our VERY OWN YARD!

But then, a few years later in early spring, temperatures plunged down into the 20s after the sap had started to run, bursting more branches then we could count. It was the beginning of the end for this old gal. A couple of years later it was STRUCK BY LIGHTNING. Seriously. This thing is just a few yards from our back patio and wowza was that a loud sound. Bits of the tree were scattered all over the yard and the lightning left a long black scar on the trunk.

We didn't know if the tree would make it. And is it turns out, it did not. We had an arborist come over and he delivered the bad news: the tree was going to die and FALL ON OUR HOUSE if we didn't cut it down.

I went through some of the phases of grief - denial: "nah, it'll be FINE!" - bargaining: "maybe if we just give it some extra water this summer..." - and finally, acceptance. I just realized that - you know what? - things change. This tree has been a big part of our life here in this house, but now it's gone and that's okay.

The good news is that the yard is more wide open now. There's more room for soccer and catch. And, with the spring snow and high winds we've been having, I'm not worried that the tree is going to FALL ON OUR HOUSE! And, that's wonderful.