Growing Up

Big news—we’ve replaced our broken coffee maker. Now at 6:45 a.m, I wake to the sound of barista Jack grinding coffee and frothing milk. Afterwards Talia climbs upstairs and hands me coffee in bed. Yes—I’m spoiled rotten and I’m loving it.
For 10 minutes while I sip my coffee I do nothing—no radio, no reading, no to-do list. I just sit and look out the bedroom window at the fiery fall blaze that is our giant tree (we can’t remember what type it is!)

When Talia was 2 this tree was nothing but a spindly baby. And our daughter was an unhappy, bewildered and screaming tot. Jack brought the tree home on a Saturday afternoon to plant in our yard.

For over an hour he dug a hole, added compost and planted that runt of a tree. And while he worked I raged at him: "Talia is freaking out and I need a break. Why did you bother buying a tree? Why didn’t you hire someone else to plant it?"

So Jack worked as fast as he could while I berated him. Turns out he planted that little tree on an angle. For years our skinny crooked tree reminded us that our life was off kilter. It reminded us that we couldn’t even take the time to properly plant a tiny tree.

But now that runt of a tree is all grown up. It shades our deck in summer and colours our world in the fall. And every morning when I look out the window I’m reminded of something different—that we all grow, and change and thrive. No matter what.