A Neighbor’s Tree

My neighbor allowed an acorn to sprout in her front yard. At first, it barely broke through the soil. She placed a wire plant cage around it so that her lawn team would not mow over it. I don’t remember exactly when, in the spring of this year, the little tree sprouted, but as it grew though the summer, it added leaves and continued it’s march to the sun. I see it clearly through my front window. It has grown in height well past the top of the wire plant cage. It now has an identity and an obvious purpose. It will continue to grow and expand. Its newly added leaves give it sustenance and adds to its presence.

I have discovered in that little tree that there is a comparison between its fragile beginning and its continuing increasing stature and the aging that I am experiencing. Like the little tree, retirement is fragile, a new life transition. Experiencing retirement created a reminder of my mortality and a period of questioning my purpose. Like the tree, I realize that the pathway through aging most comfortably lies in continual growth, learning and expanding. Through the summer, as my self-discipline  for forcing study and creativity waned, I looked to the little tree for my inspiration. The little tree will continue its growth long after I am just a memory. It will have helped me to age with curiosity and the conscious decisions to continue to look outside myself,,,to look to the world around me, the sun, the moon and the unknown that we will all experience with fascination and curiosity.

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