The tree I carved my heart into

My father once showed me the place where he carved my mothers and his initials into a birch tree.

He woke me up one summer morning and asked if I wanted to go for a drive. Just me and you he said. I miss those adventures. When the smell of pine trees and the sound of the river are all that occupy your thoughts.

Mom made us sandwiches and we were off. I climbed into the back of that old jeep and my dad said to get up in the front. It felt like I was being allowed to sit at the grown-up table at thanksgiving. Boo-yah! Now if only I could avoid falling out of this doorless tipping machine. The sound of the carburetor mixed with the rushing of the wind around my hair. The rhythmic timing of the shifting gears felt like a little shove pushing me closer to something I call home.

Good thing I brought a jacket. Because the higher the road of life takes you, the easier it is to get a little chilly if your not careful. But we always brought a football in case we stopped at a park. And the grass was so green then. But now it is cold. And the grass is encased by a foot of ice and snow. But it will come around. It always does. The sun is so persuasive that it makes all the trees come back to life. All the lonely thoughts of winter are quickly erased the first time it gets above 58 degrees. If only it could stay a toasty 98.6 all the time.

I've seen carvings on trees before. But this time it was different. This one is special. If it weren't for this tree I probably wouldn't be writing this right now. But I am. And the tree is there.

Sometimes scars will make you feel ugly, but let me tell you right now they are the most beautiful thing that can happen to you. It means you been somewhere, done something. Some call them battle scars. But I like to call them PROOF OF LIVING. I don't mean that yes, your heart is beating and your lungs are breathing. I mean that your eyes are seeing. Really seeing. And your fingers are feeling not just the screen on your i
phone but the earth and the rocks and the freezing cold water that will make it go numb, which is really feeling.

Yes I used to think that carving trees were bad too. But you know what? I bet that old birch tree was happy to have been carved into to someones heart. Just make sure it's someone you really care about before you go around carving into to living things. Because trees will not forget you very easily. Neither will the person who's name you've carved into theirs.