My parents moved onto their Tinley Park half-acre lot when I was two years old. Toward the center of the backyard was an old silver maple. Its trunk measured at least three feet in diameter.
Years ago, before I knew that Bradford pear trees were not long lasting, I planted one in my front yard.
When my parents were married in 1955, they didn't have a lot of money.
In no time we were in love with the backyard. Of all the exciting new things about moving to Downers Grove and having our first single-family house, we were continually drawn to the backyard.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
----Robert Frost
How do you find the perfect tree to honor a young, beautiful life taken too soon? The answer is: the tree finds you!
Over the years my family has visited the Morton Arboretum for the beauty of the trees. The spring blossoms, the summer leaves, and the autumn colors.
It was at my first birthday party and my second.
Searching for property in 1977, the bur oak sealed the deal.
Growing up in the Evergreen State, I was used to trees in every corner of space available. Even single-family home on a quarter acre might still be home to multiple 50' Douglas firs.
Born and raised in the small town of Itasca, my family moved to a larger home with a larger yard when I was five.
Once upon a time there was a young girl who loved her grandmother's back yard. It was filled with many white pine trees. The one next to the school parking lot somehow beckoned to her.
My wife and I went to visit our kids in their new home in Downers Grove. They had a big yard and quite a few good-sized trees. One tree caught my eye, about 20 feet from the house.
I love trees. I have 37 trees on my half acre lot in Wheaton and I planted 35 of them over the years.
When I was a young girl--until I reached college-age and headed to the Midwest--I lived in Pennsylvania. Penn’s Woods, my mom taught me.
Around 1940, my grandparents owned a small farm, close to Roselle, Illinois. We had a willow tree close to a little creek. I saw my grandpa take a few leaves off the tree and chew on them.
One year, I collected a bag of black walnuts for a project I was going to do in the winter months. My wife and I were going to a dinner party that Saturday with friends from work.
When our grandchildren were between the ages of four and six, we would take them to Wood Dale Lake. I wanted them to learn about nature's playground.
As a participant in a Chicago bike ride for one of the Earth Day celebrations in the late 80's, I received a simple little twelve-inch evergreen sapling.
