one word [carve]
(ref: here)
Initials.
The tree outside my house is covered in initials; some are clearly romantic, Joe and Mary, Alfred and Milly, and many, many others.
My wife, too, drew our names on the side of the tree nearest the sidewalk.
They used to say that if you cut your own couple's names onto the tree, it would guarantee fidelity and happiness. It seemed true for years ... and certainly, it appears to have been true for some of them.
The other day I was looking at the tree and realized there was a kind of dividing line.
Nobody used the east side of the tree; nor did they use the west. On either of those sides, the only visible names are from the north and south.
And then I got to thinking ... maybe the old saying was true.
The couples on the north side had all faced unusual hardships.
Miscarriage of triplets
House burning down while asleep
Sinkholes under the house.
Weird things.
But the result of each of those hardships drew those couples closer.
I know one couple from the north side of the tree that has been together fifty years.
The south side has even more signatures; perhaps because it is closer to the sidewalk.
The couples on the south side of the tree all seem to have had a more blessed union.
Right out of school, each started out unusually gifted.
An insurance check from a death in the family which paid for a new home
Being late for flights which all mysteriously exploded in mid-air
And yet, no matter how many long a couple had been together, within two or three years of documenting their love on the tree, the couples each split.
.
.
.
I miss my wife.
Initials.
The tree outside my house is covered in initials; some are clearly romantic, Joe and Mary, Alfred and Milly, and many, many others.
My wife, too, drew our names on the side of the tree nearest the sidewalk.
They used to say that if you cut your own couple's names onto the tree, it would guarantee fidelity and happiness. It seemed true for years ... and certainly, it appears to have been true for some of them.
The other day I was looking at the tree and realized there was a kind of dividing line.
Nobody used the east side of the tree; nor did they use the west. On either of those sides, the only visible names are from the north and south.
And then I got to thinking ... maybe the old saying was true.
The couples on the north side had all faced unusual hardships.
Miscarriage of triplets
House burning down while asleep
Sinkholes under the house.
Weird things.
But the result of each of those hardships drew those couples closer.
I know one couple from the north side of the tree that has been together fifty years.
The south side has even more signatures; perhaps because it is closer to the sidewalk.
The couples on the south side of the tree all seem to have had a more blessed union.
Right out of school, each started out unusually gifted.
An insurance check from a death in the family which paid for a new home
Being late for flights which all mysteriously exploded in mid-air
And yet, no matter how many long a couple had been together, within two or three years of documenting their love on the tree, the couples each split.
.
.
.
I miss my wife.
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