TREES part 1

I recently made a list of things I want to do before I’m 30. I won’t tell you how much time I have to complete this list, but not very long. Go to a Justin Timberlake concert (check). Go to California (never been). Get a tattoo. I have been turning this one over for more than three years. At one time I considered MARCUS across my neck or upper back but good friends convinced me otherwise. I have decided on a tree because it simply represents my love with Marcus the Lord's healing and redemption in my life. The backstory is too long for one post so stay tuned.

Marcus and I began dating when we were just sweet little kids, barely 18 and 19 years old. We quickly fell head over heels, disgustingly head over heels for each other. We celebrated three Valentine's Days together before we were married. Our first Valentine’s Day was just a month after our first date. We both dressed up in clothes we would never wear on a normal day, to feel like the adults we were clearly not. We went to a fancy restaurant and ordered the only things we could pronounce. After dinner he took me to the Opryland Hotel. For those not familiar with the Opryland hotel, there is essentially a forest (rain and deciduous) inside. He led me to a pre-picked place, the Rose Garden, to read aloud a poem he had written. The poem was about a tree that he used to admire from afar, but now had taken root in his heart and was growing. Obviously, hopefully to you, I was the tree in the poem. This tree theme remained his go to for Valentine’s Day.

On our second Valentine’s Day, we snuck onto a YMCA campground. He set up a campfire and hammock at a spot near the lake. I can still see the way the full moon lit up the lake, so that we didn’t even need the flashlight. He began to read aloud a campfire story complete with hand painted illustrations. In the story a scary forest monster threatens a beautiful tree, but  a strong woodsman appears to protect the tree. The tree ends up destroying the monster herself. The story ends with the woodsman building a fence around the tree to protect her from future monsters. Again, I’m the tree.  Unfortunately, it would take a lifetime to unpack that metaphor completely, so we’ll save that for later.

On our third Valentine’s Day, Marcus made me an actual tree. He took me back to the Rose Garden at the Opryland Hotel, reread the first poem, and pulled this tree out of a bag. The tree is nothing to write home about. It’s a fake tree made from a real tree standing two feet tall with plastic leaves. Sad to say, but I was not impressed. I feigned excitement and placed the tree on a bookshelf where it sat for the next two months facing ridicule from me and my friends. Right before the end of the semester, Marcus had this grand plan to make the tree more useful by turning it into a lamp. He took me to a local park, I brought the tree and he brought the lamp making kit. After feeding the ducks, we went to the picnic pavilion where he put the lamp making kit together. When he stuck the light bulb inside the middle of the fake tree, words magically appeared around the trunk. “Adrienne WILL YOU MARRY ME”. While I’m still trying to read the words, Marcus got down on one knee and pulled a ring out of his pocket. My mind was blown, I’m not sure if “yes” even came out of my mouth. This tree I had been making fun of for the past two months had now changed the course of my life forever.

The tree metaphors only reinforced what I already knew about Marcus. I was deeply loved by him and the love only continued to grow. I was safe with him, whatever came my way I could overcome because Marcus was protecting me. Then the unthinkable happened four years, four months and twelve days into our wondrous marriage my love died in an accident. Suddenly, I was not rooted in anyone’s heart. Suddenly, there was no one to protect me.