The Two-Year-Old Tree

It started almost 30 years ago. My wife and I had taken our only child at the time to the Morton Arboretum to spend the day. While wandering around with no particular destination in mind, we came upon a Korean Boxwood tree that had a single trunk that split into two about 4 feet off the ground. We thought it would be a cute picture to put our two-year-old son in the split of the trunk for a picture. It was a very cute picture of him wearing blue shorts and a green Disney shirt. We didn’t think about it much more, although we really enjoyed the picture.

The next year our second son was born and we thought it might be fun to take his picture at the same tree when he turned two. A few years later, after much discussion amongst employees, we were directed to the area where some very helpful folks thought the tree might be and we were able to find it. We had planned ahead and our second son was wearing the same blue shorts and Disney shirt for his two-year-old picture with the tree. That was followed three years later by our third son in the same clothes and in the same tree.

Imagine our surprise years later when our oldest son proposed to his wife at the Arboretum! They decided to get married on the grounds and when they called to check availability for a date over a year after their engagement, they were told there was just a cancellation and they could have the fall wedding they wanted a year early! It was a beautiful day even though the week before there were flooding rains and the day after the wedding, it poured. As the sun set during their ceremony, a small flock of geese lifted off from the trees and flew across the beautiful sky in the background.

Over the years, members of our family have enjoyed Illumination, giant trolls, chocolate, walks or picnics during all seasons, glass pumpkins, plant sales, Boy Scout Merit Badges and more, but our favorite memory of this special place has to be our trio of pictures in the Two-Year-Old tree.