The Apple Tree

“Oh, my honey bear. Would you come out here with me? What should we do about our backyard? I’d be remiss to leave it looking to drab.” Linda stood with her hands against her hips looking over the barren backyard of the newly purchased house. “Isn’t there something we can put back here to liven it up?”

“Ah. And if that would make my beautiful wife happy, then we shall do it.” Joe walked over and stood next to his wife. The newlywed couple had just married and purchased a small starter home in the suburbs with money borrowed from her parents. It was the start of their new lives together.

“What would you say to a nice fruit tree? Maybe something that can grow with us over time, give a nice shade to our yard, and hopefully produce something we can eat and cherish,” Linda said. “It’s like having a blank slate to work from. Isn’t that exciting, my honey bear?”

She wrapped her arms around Joe. He lovingly returned the favor.

“You know what, I’ll drive over to the orchard tomorrow morning and pick out a tree. I’ve always been keen on apples,” Joe noted.

“Apples? Yes. Oh, that sounds just wonderful, my honey bear. An apple tree. In our very own backyard. What more could we ask for?”

Joe took Linda by the hand and they began a comprehensive survey of the backyard. Joe noted a few different spots they could plant the tree as Linda dreamed of the different desserts she’d bake from the future harvests.

The next day, early in the morning, Joe drove out to the orchard and bought an apple tree from the farmer. “She’s a hardy variety. You’ll get many good years of bountiful harvests if you treat this here tree right,” the farmer commented to Joe as they loaded the sapling into his truck.

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“Here you go Linda. Now you can sit under the apple tree in our backyard and nurse our first born. The shade will feel nice for you both,” Joe said.

He set a thick blanket on the grass beneath the leafy apple tree. It hadn’t produced any fruit yet, but had taken root well and grown substantially the past couple of years with a thick canopy. Linda walked over cradling her young son and settled onto the blanket.

“The shade feels fantastic, my honey bear. I’m just so happy we have a healthy baby boy, a house of our own, and a nice tree to give us this lovely shade,” Linda said. The rustle of leaves soothed her son as she nursed him and Joe sat down to join his family.

“Maybe next year we’ll start getting some apples from the tree. Wouldn’t that be nice? The farmer did say this tree would be bountiful if we treated it right,” Joe noted. He contently watched his wife and son together.

“We can only hope,” Linda remarked.

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“My honey bear. Could you go inside and a get another bucket? There’s more apples this year than any before?” Linda was harvesting the ripe fruit from her backyard.

“Of course,” Joe replied. “I’m amazed at how many there are this year. Remember when we weren’t even sure it was going to fruit?”

They shared a pleasant laugh as they thought about how large and fast the tree had grown since they planted it after moving in. The tree seemed to mirror the growth of their son who was now a young man and had recently ventured off to college.

“Well, the farmer did say the tree would be quite bountiful. I guess he was right,” Linda said as Joe switched out the buckets. “Could you do a favor for me and bring that last one to the car? I want to bring it our son as a gift when we visit him at college tomorrow. He loved eating apples straight off the tree.”

“I’m sure he’ll love it. He did practically grew up in that tree.”

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“Grandmother!” An energetic pair of children ran up to Linda’s legs and hugged them nearly knocking her over. “Did you make your famous apple pie like you said you would?”

“Of course, my sweet grandchildren, of course,” Linda replied with a bright smile. “And there’s plenty more apples still on the tree that I need your help to gather.”

Linda observed proudly as her two children buzzed around the backyard, climbing onto the scraggly apple, pulling off the low hanging fruit. Joe struggled over to her, leaning heavily onto a cane, but looked joyful once next to his wife.

“I can’t believe that tree is still giving you apples after all these years,” their son spoke as he joined his parents in the backyard. “It feels just like yesterday that was me climbing up those clunky roots, swinging on those limbs to pick the hard to reach apples.”

“That old tree’s doing better than me these days,” Joe said as his son helped him down onto a chair overlooking the yard. “That farmer did say it’d be bountiful if we treated it right.”

“I suppose we did just that, my honey bear,” Linda chimed. “Or maybe the tree has been the one treating us right.”

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“And to think this tree outlasted Joe,” Linda chuckled from her wheel chair that was parked on the back porch. “You know, getting this old apple tree was one of the first things we did when we moved in all those years ago? It was just after we got married, before you were even conceived.”

“I know, Mom. You’ve told me the story many times. And I know it’s hard to think about right now,” her son consoled her. “But we need to move you somewhere that’ll be easier to take care of you. If I could move the tree I would, trust me.”

The last of Linda’s things were cleared out of the house, but she needed one last round to take in the memories that she’d acquired over the years. Her son was there to help her now that she could no longer move around without help.

“Do you think the tree will continue to be as bountiful once I’m gone? It’s been so great to us over years?”

Linda and her son listened as the leaves rustled against the soft breeze, as if it was saying goodbye in its own way.

“Well, it’s just like that farmer said all those years ago. This old tree’s going to be bountiful to someone new if they treat it right,” he said.