Paula’s Butterfly Mind

The Yellow Tree November 13, 2011

This week marks the 10-year anniversay of a very sad day for me. 
Things are good now, and I’m happily married to a terrific guy.  But the span from about November 7th through the 16th is still a little tough each year, as the memories knock at my brain. 

A few years ago, I wrote about it in a piece I called “The Yellow Tree Never Forgets.” It’s a “short story,” although longer than I’d usually post here. So I’ll post here only the first few of paragraphs and then give you the link to the full story.  Or, just follow the link in the title below and get to the whole story. 

The Yellow Tree Never Forgets
By Paula L. High, © 2005  

November 2005
It’s a crisp November mid-morning.  As I look out the window of my office, I see the tree out in front with its leaves turning that bright, flaming-yellow color that it does every year.  Each time a breeze comes through, it causes masses of the golden leaves to rain down upon the street and the passing vehicles.  It’s beautiful.  It remembers to do this each year, without prompting from any of us.  When the sun is at this angle, this time of day, the cheery, brilliant color reflects the outdoor light and casts a vivid yellow hue onto everything in my office.  On a sunny day like today, it changes the way things in my office are lit this time of year.  It’s like no other time of year – it makes for a unique couple of weeks. As pretty as it is, it reminds me of a week that changed my life a few years ago. 

That was November of 2001.  I will never ever forget the main events that transpired that week of my life . . . of his death.  It was surreal.  It’s not every day that such an important person in your life, a love of your life, goes into the hospital for one last time and dies at the tender age of thirty-three.  (more…)