Our Pine Tree in Oak Lawn

This was our dream house in Oak Lawn, Illinois, a home for a growing family fathered by an Army lieutenant and mothered by a Navy Wave, both veterans of World War II. We moved there in 1957, when there were five of us children. Eventually there were eight of us, with my sister Marian being born shortly after we moved into the house. Our Dad planted a small pine tree in the front yard and we watched it grow along with our family. Our parents took photos of us in the front yard at Christmas, near the pine tree, which became a symbol of steady growth over the years. When Marian celebrated her first Holy Communion in 1965, I took this photo of Marian with Mom and Dad, next to the pine tree. By that time we were amazed at how tall the pine tree was, taller than eight-year-old Marian, taller than Mom, and even taller than Dad!

   As each of us grew older, we moved away and came back to Oak Lawn to visit our home with the pine tree in front of the house. Then Mom and Dad sold this home and moved to a smaller house a few miles away. But the pine tree stayed there, rooted in the ground and holding memories from all the years. One of our brothers returned there in early spring 2020 and visited the pine tree. There it is now, twice as tall as the house itself, and filling up the entire front yard with its generous branches, still holding memories from a growing family.