The Barb and Al tree
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Gratitude and eternal, delightful memories to the spirit of Barbara Ward. She passed quietly, in her mid-90s, after a rousingly full life.
Barb was simply an amazing woman.
Throughout our lives here in Vermont - 1000 miles from our real families in Illinois - she was our "aunt-in-charge" of all things that needed a watchful eye. And she wasn't afraid to tell Dr. Chuck and I when she thought we needed to shape up, clean up, or speak up. Barb cared about the details... period. And when we were green-horn young professionals, we needed her candid guidance! ha.
She and her husband of 71 years - Al - were the caretakers of the enormous Fiddlehead Dental building into their very late 80's, climbing ladders, crawling in every nook and cranny, and keeping a watchful eye on water leaks from all the equipment. (Golly, the nightmares they helped us avoid or clean up!)The photo here is of a grapefruit tree upstairs in my office that we all affectionately call "The Barb and Al tree." 30 years ago, Al planted a simple grapefruit seed in an empty pot in our waiting room and it grew ridiculously slow, but steadily, for 2 decades, and reached about 2 feet tall, but no more.
The struggling tree died about the time the Wards retired from helping us in the office. It made us think of an old adage "Never trust a doctor, whose office plants have died." (ha) So someone set the pot on our back porch for the winter and it was forgotten.
But one spring morning I passed it and noticed the tiniest dark green bud on the lifeless stem. I was astonished! It should not have survived a Vermont winter. It should not have survived without water.
It was an outlier... a survivor!
[And as an aside...lately, I'm thinking we've got to celebrate those qualities in our lives, as we get to a new normal after 2.5 years of COVID. There are all sorts of relationships like this and local businesses like this that need our support.]
So.. the dead-looking little tree... well... I brought it up to my office and started watering it, keeping it in a good southern light. Gave it a little compost every week. And it literally BURST back to life, and would fill this entire corner of the room by now were I not trimming it periodically. Some of its leaves are a foot long and 6 inches wide! I'm not sure actual grapefruit trees in Florida would look this hearty!
The whole story reminds me of the important things in our lives that can dwindle and seem to disappear, only to spring back even better after some nurturing: things like friendships, relationships with our kids, goodwill with co-workers, our faith in the future, restaurants, our downtowns, our schools, etc... etc..
It's good to look for the tiny signs of life starting to thrive again in the people and places around us.
The Al and Barb Tree reminds me to nurture even the tiniest signs of goodness and progress. That's how goodness and progress will start to fill whole corners of our lives and our community!
Thank you, and our condolences, to Lori, the original hygienist in our practice and a forever friend, whose mother - Barb - was the Aunt-in-Charge to Chuck and I a good deal of time, when we REALLY needed someone exactly like her: high standards, perseverant, thoughtful, cautious, outspoken, driven by the right reasons. Hugs to all who knew her and will miss her.
