Love in the Bark

This is a story of friendship, love, and heartache all at once. I know I could start it like back in the old days once upon a time, but this one starts in an apartment complex where I had lived and ended up meeting one of my best friends, her family, and at one time the love of my life.

I met my friend, Heather, going into the eighth maybe ninth grade and she ended up moving in beside me. We were friends for awhile throughout school and I got to know her mom, stepdad, and sister. For the longest time I didn’t know that she had a brother. I got so close to her family that I would go over in the mornings and her sister would want me to do her hair and I would hang out and watch tv or movies.

Well, senior year came for Heather and she had a graduation party I attended where the brother and ex love of my life turns up. He was sitting there all alone and I felt bad for him so I went and introduced myself because to tell you the truth he wasn’t bad looking at the time. I told him my name was Liz and found out his name was Tom. 

I ended up playing horseshoe with him and chatting the day away. Heather had plenty of other friends to hang with so I didn’t feel so bad.

The day had ended and everything went back to normal and it seemed I wasn’t going to see Tom again and I didn’t want to ask Heather if her brother ever visits and what was going on with him.

All of a sudden, I come home from school and Heather is helping someone move into the apartment in front of mine. I  was so excited and interested that when she had a moment I was going to ask, but then I didn’t have to!!!  It was him!! He was back!! I was so happy that he would be so close and might be up for grabs! The biggest problem at the time was age I was 17 and he was 23. My parents would flip out!! First of all, we are Christians to this totally non- Christian dude! Second, they wouldn’t let me date him at all. Last, they wouldn’t know for the longest time at least I hoped.

Ok, so he ended up moving in with his grandma in the front apartment and after I found out he just got out of a marriage, yes, a marriage with a baby attached also; we started chatting and slowly getting closer. I ended up IN LOVE totally the whole rose colored glasses and everything! 

I graduated; he was there. We got an apartment together, fought, left the apartment, went back to family and so on. Well, anyway the love came and went so many times more than it should. I met his grandma through all of this and she was such a doll! I love this woman. She hated me at first because I was stealing her grandson I think. I ended up chatting with her so much about the good old days and everything. I miss her so much like everyone else that has passed, but she has so many great stories to make the time pass. 

If you're wondering why the title, well, that’s where we're at. The apartments that we lived at had this tree that was basically in the middle of all three of them. It was this huge tree that you could climb if you're a young kid or lay underneath like I did and read or write. I was into writing poetry at the time and just laying underneath that tree feeling the wind blow and just freeing your mind to let your thoughts flow was just mind- blowing. 

I could lay under that tree all hours of the day not caring what time it was and have to hear my mom yell at me to come in and have supper or get inside it's getting late and I had school the next day. 

One time when Tom and I were making a commitment of getting closer we were at that tree and he carved a heart with mine and his name inside it. To this day I always wondered if it was still there. 

I had a son with Tom and we went through that town so I got to tell him the story. I don’t know if he remembers it, but the stories I have associated with that tree will be remembered for as long as I can remember it. 

There is also another tree I remember that involves this title and that’s the tree my great grandpa would take me out to, to get apples from the apple tree. He would have me hold this brown weaved basket to put the apples in to take to great grandma so she could make these awesome apple pies. 

Well, one time I thought I would just grab one of those apples without listening to grandpa and boy did I regret it. I took this big old bite out of the apple and it had a worm crawling right out of the bite I had taken. Ugh, Right!!! I totally regretted it!! So anymore I knew to take the apples to grandma and let her check them and cut them then I would eat those apples. 

I would always start my day every summer I could by going to that apple tree with a little basket and having grandma check my apples so I could have my apple and peanut butter for a snack later on in the day. 

The worst part came when great grandpa passed and great grandma couldn’t handle the big place on her own so she sold the place and got her a smaller place. So all in that time went a lot of happiness. Great grandma had been with grandpa for so long that she didn’t last very much longer and a year later she was gone just like that. I never truly knew what the saying you never know what you have until it’s gone until I started losing it and wasn’t able to run right over to their house or call them on the phone you know, but I will always through all these sad stories I have the best memories of these tree stories.