The Legacy Redbuds

Many years ago, my precious mother-in-law planted a redbud tree in her front yard.

It grew and flowered each spring.

But one day a storm came with high winds and split the tree in half.

It had been a beautiful tree and birds had rested in its branches, 

so she mourned the thought of losing it.

She went out and taped the split tree back together again.

Her family laughed at the tape. They told her she should let the redbud go,

to cut it down, and plant something else.

But my mother-in-law wouldn't consider it. And over time,

the two halves healed themselves and the redbud tree lived on.

Nine years ago on March 15, the Ides of March,

my mother-in-law passed on to a new life.

A few months later, I found little redbud seedlings growing in her flower beds.

I dug them up and planted  two of them outside our door.

They were very, very tiny sprouts, not more than an inch or two high,

and my neighbor said, "They'll never grow."

But they did.

Five years after the sprouts were planted,

the trees reached a few feet in height.

About three years ago, a tree fell on one.

We thought it may not survive,

but last week a chickadee rested in its branches.

And this week, the sun came out and warmed the air
and the legacy redbuds bloomed at the Ides of March.

I think she'd like that.

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