All Comments on 'The Tree'

You do bittersweet so well, just as you do everything else.

Lovely story! I made me cry. The story began and ended with Madeline.

5

That was an excellent story. Sad in a way, 5stars

Not what I expected but, boy, was it brilliant. So much said in such a short piece. Evocative and moving. 5⛤

Unexpected and wonderful.

A remarkable story. Thank you.

I read this one while holding my baby granddaughter. You got me!

With misty eyes, thank you for writing, and thank you for sharing your work.

Lovely story, very well written.

A wonderful story, told so well. Thank you.

It made me think of Dad. He planted trees everywhere he stayed for over a year. He was a Winter Texan that summered in Southwest Oklahoma. He would put in Winter & Spring gardens in Aransas Pass, then leave for the neighbors the second week of April. To put in an early summer garden in Frederick, Oklahoma, and put in a fall garden in late August and early September if he didn't join the early flight of snowbirds, saying he put in the garden for Mom. Mom never set foot in the garden cigarettes & whisky didn't grow well there.

Brought tears to this old mans eyes!

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Now I am sad. Great story!

Brought this cynical, jaded, dirty old man to tears, thinking about my own grandmother. 5 stars.

Loved the story's celebration of life and love. Thank you.

Certainly novel idea to compare one's life to the tree that grew up with her. About the only reference (assumed) is to a 2-story house, which is about 20 feet tall and got that way in about 15-17 years. Maybe an American Sycamore? That would be the approximate width of what I remember. Also I thought it unique to plan the symmetry of the story to revolve around Madeline.

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What surprised me is how Madeline "got tired" once they cut down the tree, or at least in the fact no apparent transition exists from her death to granddaughter Madeline playing with the sapling. Certainly the story anchored itself in grandmother Madeline's life, and the story details that part well. The parts that concern me are the ones where Jack suddenly passes, which received little coverage (almost like his life wasn't as important as Madeline's) then the story moved on. We then jump ahead to Melody talking to the youngest Madeline, and while it presents a few temporal markers, it made the story feel rushed, like after the oldest Madeline died, nothing else really mattered.

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The 1-Lit page bothers me. In a story like this, I expected 3 generations playing out, and I don't see why that couldn't have happened, as many classic literary examples reflect that: I would have thought 1 page for older Madeline; 1 page for Melody; 1 page for youngest Madeline. We see a little suggested about how oldest/youngest Madeline might be, but to stop there...just kind of feels like giving up.

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I did enjoy the story, although I wished for a deeper examination. 3

Some commentators are just too picky. Lean back and enjoy the story that someone else has crafted for you, this is a gem.

A wonderful, bitter-sweet story. Sad and beautiful. Just like life.

That was such a great, little blue story. Thank you so much.

Great story, and I enjoyed it immensely. Thank-you.

Wonderful story.

@smiffy

Read the comments policy, which allows every poster that freedom--AND outlines important prohibitions regarding authors and addressing other commenters following the policy. If you wish to only read and not observe anything else, feel free.

What a beautiful, heart-string pulling story. Just wonderful.

Another winner

Wow. Remarkable and refreshing. Thank you.

Wow…not what I expected…and that made it all the better.

delightful!

Wonderful story, brought years to this old mans eyes. 5 stars.

sweet story of life, remembrance.

Remarkably.

In german there is an old song "mein freund der baum" this story reminds me of these song from Alexandra in 1968