The Willow Tree

It’s interesting how one life can be the intersection of many. Bright eyed and full of life, children are untouched by the dark clouds of sorrow. This was true of young Patty until her fifteenth year. The darkness held her for many months with no light to be seen. Friends and family gathered and prayed beside the lake where her heart played. On that spot they planted her Willow. All the love she had poured into that little tree and as she grew so did the tree. The Willow reached towards the sun as it watched over the family that would continue to grow long after it was gone.

 Patty sat on the hand carved bench under the longest limb of her Willow tree. She smiled at the memory of her departed husband making the bench just for her. In her younger years, when their son was still just a passing thought in their minds, the Willow tree had just begun to reach its arms to the sky. Its trunk stood thick and unyielding to the blistering winter winds. In the spring its branches danced with the storm clouds and sang with every drop of rain. Patty would watch and note new insects that visited the flowering catkins for their meals. These notes became the basis for her second child’s life work. One night a wonderful lightning storm streaked the sky in an ominous blend of colors and designs. The Willow longed to touch the flickers of light in the sky and as the two met the Earth shook. The ground rumbled with energy and the tree was engulfed in orange flames. Patty’s eyes misted as the leaves turned to ash next to the lake. The rain that followed smothered the fire but was unable to reattach the limb the Willow lost. It lay there and Patty envisioned her own arm torn from her body. Her husband, John, held her close before removing the limb from her sight. A man of few words she was never sure where he had taken the shattered pieces of her heart. She moped around the house not even caring that John was missing from dusk till dawn for three days. On the fourth day her emotions got the best of her as she stormed off to find him. After several frustrating minutes Patty could feel an ache in her chest. A longing to be with John she had not felt before. She decided to take a walk to the lake and sit next to her tree. As she approached the scorched ground there he was. His flannel shirt blew behind him with the Willow’s leaves, his blue eyes sparkling along with his boyish smile. Patty followed his gaze to the wooden bench in front of him.

 “The main part is from the Willow but I added the back and arm rests from a cherry tree not too far.” John stepped back, his fingers tugged at his shorts with uncertainty.

 Patty touched the smooth espresso colored wood. John had taken great care to lightly carve an indention for a soft seat. Gently, she sat as if the lightest feather would splinter it to pieces. The bench held strong and John sat next to her as her eyes filled with tears.

           It became her favorite spot to slow her mind or find her next inspiration. Within a few years Robert would waddle his small legs alongside his mother and father to the lake side. Patty would sit on her bench, now cemented in place, under the Willow. More years passed and she introduced her daughter to her Willow. Robert hugged the tree while Camilla laughed as her little hands grasped at the bark. As the children grew so did the Willow. “Aunty Willow look at the picture I drew in class. Teacher said I had a beautiful family!” Camilla proudly showed her picture of a bright blue sky with a smiling sun in the corner of the page. In center of the page she had drawn the Willow as her five year old saw it and surrounding it was each member of the family. Patty watched and giggled as Robert climbed as high as he could in the branches. She remembered clearly the fateful day he reached for a branch that wasn’t ready to carry him. It snapped and he thrashed in the dirt crying out for his mother. He broke his arm in a few different places that day but that didn’t stop his adventurous spirit.

           As teenagers, the children began to spread their wings and left to find themselves when the time was just right. John would find Patty pacing anxiously around the Willow if they neglected to call one day. He never tried to tell her it would be okay. Instead his actions spoke louder and raised her spirits more than words ever could. John would simply take her by the hand, pulling her hips close to his, and they would sway to a tune only they could hear. They bounced and laughter filled the air with each twirl.

           The golden years of life were approaching fast for John and Patty. They enjoyed days together inside more often but Patty still watched over her Willow. Robert was off leaving his mark on the world but the world had left marks on Camilla. Battered and bruised she returned to her childhood home with two kids in tow. She would sit for long hours next to the Willow. The leaves surrounded her in a nest of safety. The air was as fresh and crisp as it had been during her childhood. Camilla felt the warm embrace of family through Willow’s branches. Just as the scars outside slowly faded the mental load she carried eased with the love that Willow brought. Patty once again laughed and played next to the Willow chasing her grandchildren in their fits of laughter.

           John held tight to his words until the very end. Cancerous tumors spread throughout his body and he lay in bed wheezing more than breathing. The strength Patty borrowed from him for all those years of hardships she passed down to her children that sat next to their father’s bed. Surrounded by all who loved him, John smiled and his blue eyes sparkled once more. “I’m not sure what’s next but I know for a fact it won’t be better than this.” Tears dripped slowly from the corner of his eyes to the pillow that misted his eyes creating a color like the sea as it foams on the shore. Patty held tight to his hand as he slowly let her go.

           Sitting on the bench Patty wiped the tears that gathered on her chin. The years had passed slowly since John’s departure. As promised they would lay together forever next to Willow. Patty knew her time would come soon and she would walk into the next world. Hair like bundles of snow played with the yellowing branches of her Willow. There was only one last thing Patty needed to do. With great effort she descended onto her knees in front of the tree. “Life has been hard without you but I promised no one would forget you.” Patty wept softly at the fond memories of her childhood on the lake. Skipping alongside a mirror. Twins, they say, are friends for life. Patty had her twin for only fifteen years until tragedy first crept into her life. It clawed at her sanity as she felt her twin fade on the side of the road. No loved ones nearby. Only the faint sound of tires screeching away. “I promised we would always be together. You will never be hurt again. My beautiful Willow.”

           The next year Camilla sat on the bench her father had made from the limb of a Willow that no longer stretched towards the sky. She watched as her children played along the lake just as she used to do.

“Mommy look! Nanny is saying hi.” Camilla smiled. The ache in her heart had lessoned over the year. The Willow that once bloomed left it’s seedlings behind to ensure that the family would always be watched over and cared for by the loved ones that had left this world.