Story of a Tree

Once upon a time, a big willow tree stood tall and proud in the front yard. The kids would play on the swing and climb high in it's branches like monkeys. The mom would take lots of first day of school pictures, birthday, playing, Halloween, and many other random pictures of the kids in front of the beautiful tree. It's branches and willows hung low to provide shade and everyone in the family loved the tree.

One spring, the dad noticed that only half of the tree sprouted new buds and leaves. He was concerned. The next spring, none of the tree sprouted and every time the wind blew, the family would find huge limbs laying on the ground. Once, when the little boy was swinging, the whole branch cracked and fell off of the tree. The dad was very concerned so he called a landscaping expert to look at the tree. The man told the family that some sort of bug had burrowed into the tree and killed it. There was no way to save the amazing tree.

So the dad had no choice but to cut down the tree. Branch by branch it fell as the family watched, heartbroken that their favorite tree was gone. No more school pictures in the tree, no more little monkeys climbing the tree, no more beautiful willows hanging to the ground. The dad and the little boy loaded all of the branches and twigs into the back of the truck.

The tree gave the family three nights of wonderful, toasty fire. Some of the flames were 12 feet high and kept the family very warm as they watched the fire dance in the branches of the tree. The tree also gave the coals to make the little boy and the little girl very sticky as they roasted marshmallows. The family will forever miss their tree and their front yard will never be the same again!