There was a twisted,
ugly bushy tree in our back yard. It was
next to Big Dickinson Creek and had all kinds of limbs that had shot out in all
directions.
In a word, it was a
tangle.
I found some real
lessons of life as exemplified in that ratty old tree. Especially during
October, which is breast cancer awareness month.
We hired some guys to
help clear out that brushy area one fall and one of them attacked that messy
tree with a relish. He came to me with a
big smile on his face to tell me that he had trimmed it up but had not
eliminated it entirely.
Instead, he
demonstrated how he had found two strong limbs pushing upward. He had trimmed
away all the rest and there standing proudly were two vertical limbs of this
tree.
As I touched the limbs
it became obvious they had twisted together and seemed to almost be holding
each other up. I thanked the guy for his
good work and watched that tree bloom as it really grew over the following
summer.
By fall, the two trees
were standing tall. Then we got one of
Lander’s rare windstorms. This one wasn’t a real cyclone - maybe 40 miles per
hour. When I next looked at that tree,
it looked remarkably different.
Now, just one limb
stood tall.
The other was drooping.
It was leaning over so much, perhaps it was broken? I got out my small chain saw and decided it
would be best for the lone standing tree if we got rid of this other weak tree
and left it alone.
Then another thought
struck me. Perhaps the wind had just
untangled the trees. All along the two
limbs needed each other to stand tall like that.
I pushed the weak tree
back up beside its mate and took the belt out of my jeans and wrapped it around
the two trees so they were, once again, bound together.
After stepping back and
looking at my handiwork, it again looked splendid. The two parts together made a much more
handsome tree than the one lonely limb could have looked.
We watched that tree
over the next few months and it just grew stronger and stronger. The limbs
became fully entangled with each other again.
Was there some
symbolism that people can use in their own lives?
In this case, out of
all the different branches, two emerged on that one day. They were already relying on each other to stand
strong.
Perhaps this is how a
man and a woman can come together and become one from their varied roots. But sometimes things can go wrong with one
partner or the other. It can be a
physical or mental ailment or any of many different things.
Maybe this is how
married couples can live a long life together.
When one is weak and falling down, the other holds up its partner as
long as he or she can. And when one
finally can’t hold on any longer, maybe an outside force in our case, the Good Lord and his blessings comes along
to help them stay strong. And in the end, they are standing tall together for a
long, long time.
These tangled limbs are
standing just outside my home office window.
I look out there a lot and see a strong tree.
And when I think of how
strong my wife Nancy always was in our marriage – there is no doubt she held me
up all these years. And in the fall of
1999, when she was struck hard with breast cancer, I was at her side, holding
her up during her difficult time.
We spent two years with
chemo and radiation getting through this amazingly difficult time. Finally she
was cancer free.
For 20 years she has
been fine. We are standing together stronger than ever.
There was a lesson in
that old twisted tree. I think I understand.
* * *
How many old-timers are there in
Wyoming these days?
When I wrote a column some 18
months ago about the oldest people in Wyoming, we had folks ranging from 104 to
107 all over the state.
Most of those really, really old
pioneers have since passed away. Not sure there any really old ones around any
more.
Today, we are not sure if there is
anyone over 105. If you know of someone over 100, please let me know at bsniffin@wyoming.com. I would like to include them in a future
column.
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