The Gifting Tree

We have a tree on our tree lawn right in front of our house that I love. It is the perfect size, and the branches are full with beautiful leaves that give the tree the perfect shape. It helps to block the hot rays of the morning sun in the summer, and in the winter the frozen branches perfectly support the freshly fallen snow to make the most beautiful scene out of the frame of our window.

Every October all of the trees on our street are well into their fall transformation. The leaves on our neighbor's trees burn brightly with the autumnal colors of the season before their edges start to curl and darken and they flutter to the ground. By Halloween, most of the trees are half bare and have lost the charm of a freshly changing season.

But our tree is different. While our street is lined with oranges and reds, our sweet tree still holds it's green leaves, even weeks after the other's have changed. Standing straight among all of the colorful trees, our tree looks young and odd but strong and independent.

The tree starts to change eventually. It always starts with a few yellow leaves sprinkled in amongst the green, and then the yellow turns to a light orange. Before long, the tree looks like it is at it's peak of color change, and the leaves almost start to look dull and brown at the edges. Every year I look at that tree and for a split second I think about how I am slightly disappointed that the fall colors it displays aren't as intense as the trees around it were weeks ago, and that it only looks yellow for a few days before it looks like it will drop all of it's leaves at once and be done with it's yearly chance to shine.

And then, as quickly as that thought came, it is gone. Because this tree of ours isn't done yet.

Isabella wakes up on her birthday every year to a bright pink, unbelievably gorgeous tree. It is the most intense color I've ever seen in nature, and the color change seems to happen over night. It never fails to gift her of this every year, and every year it takes my breath away.

It reminds me that all things have their own timeline in life, and though some things don't follow the typical path, they too are beautiful and worthy of our patience and our unbridled appreciation. I love that tree even more because it is different and unique; it makes us wait longer for it's gift, but I treasure that gift all the more because of it.

And anyway, when is a better time to give this gift than a sweet girl's birthday?

(These were taken 4 days after her birthday, so it is less full and pink than it typically is.)

A post on the newly turned 5 year old is coming soon. Promise :)