We've known this tree was dying slowly for the last few years, and even talked about how it would have to be cut down eventually...but I really didn't want to face the reality of it. They measured this tree a couple of years ago, and it was the 2nd largest Silver Maple in Idaho. They estimated it to be 110 years old. At it's glory when my kids were smaller, there were three swings in the tree. And the kids use all three at the same time. Stephanie fell out of it once on a Sunday afternoon, and we had to take her to the hospital...concession. Janell was home then and drove us in, and Stephanie just kept asking..."what happened?" About as fast as I could tell her, she would ask again. They told me to wake her up every hour, but about 3:00 am she said...grumpily...has it been an hour already? So I figured she would be okay.
Mom's house looks so much smaller with the tree gone. It's probably a good thing I was in Montana when they cut it down, because I would have had an even harder time with it. Everyone wanted pieces of the wood to save as a memento...I got a couple of limbs and plan on cutting them thinly and making a Christmas ornament out of them for each of the kids. I guess they would like that. The day they cut it down, they measured around it, and it was 18 feet 2 inches around. Huge...and so loved. All our family get togethers were held under that tree, 4th of July picnics, birthday dinners, etc. We will miss it.
