Susie Forest trees are planted with lots of hoopla and ceremony, but then are they left there to get on with their lives alone? Do we remember them and visit them and use them again? I hope so. Here are some examples of Susie trees that did continue to give back in other ways than the ones that we usually think of.
I planted a tree for Hermania Anslinger, a very good friend and mentor, in 2007. It was a surprise as was another tree planted that same day in Webster Park. This group of friends had a great time planting and picnicking with the arborists that day. We went to the park and visited and picnicked by those trees other summers. When Hermania died this winter at the age of 95 we knew that her memorial had to be by her tree. So on June 19th, close to her birthday, family and friends gathered to talk and remember and to eat a lot in Hermania’s memory. We wrote tree-grams about how we felt about her and how we missed her and hung them in her tree. It’s a place we can go back to and think about her.
In June of last year I planted a tree for the daughter of one of the arborists I work with and not yet one-year-old Hannah came to the planting and played with the tree-grams in the tree as her father held her. This June, Miles, the dad, Hannah and I met at her tree. This time she drew pictures on her tree-grams which her dad helped her to hang in the tree. After playing around the park we came back and she hugged her tree as we got ready to leave. We’re going to meet there many times as she grows up.
I’ve received pictures of another baby by his tree at the one-year anniversary of the planting. I can see how much they’ve both grown.
So, if you’ve planted a tree, use it to celebrate important times in your family’s life, show how children are growing, remember the ones you’ve lost. The trees are there, waiting.