A long time ago, there was a huge apple tree. A little boy loved to come and play around it everyday. He climbed to the tree top, ate the apples, took a nap under the shadow...
He loved the tree and the tree loved to play with him.
Time went by... The little boy grew up, and he no longer played around the tree everyday. One day, the boy came back to the tree with a sad look on his face. "Come and play with me," the tree asked the boy. "I am no longer a kid, I don't play around trees anymore." The boy replied, "I want toys. I need money to buy them." "Sorry, I don't have money...but you can pick all my apples and sell them so you will have money."
The boy was so excited. He grabbed all the apples on the tree and left happily. The boy didn't come back after he picked the apples. The tree was sad.
One day, the boy returned and the tree was so excited. "Come and play with me," the tree said. "I don't have time to play. I have to work for my family. We need a house for shelter. Can you help me?"
"Sorry, I don't have a house, but you can chop off my branches to build your house."
So the boy cut all the branches off the tree and left happily. The tree was glad to see him happy but the boy didn't come back afterward. The tree was again lonely and sad.
One hot summer day, the boy returned and the tree was delighted. "Come and play with me!" the tree said.
"I am sad and getting old. I want to go sailing to relax myself. Can you give me a boat?" "Use my trunk to build your boat. You can sail far away and be happy." So the boy cut the tree truck to make a boat. He went sailing and didn't come back for a long time.
Finally, the boy returned after he had been gone for so many years. "Sorry, my boy. But I don't have anything for you anymore. No more apples for you..." the tree said.
"I don't have teeth to bite," the boy replied.
"No more trunk for you to climb on."
"I am too old for that now" the boy said. "I really can't give you anything... the only thing left is my dying roots," the tree said with sadness.
"I don't need much now, just a place to rest. I am tired after all these years," the boy replied.
"Good! Old tree roots are the best place to lean on and rest. Come sit down with me and rest." The boy sat down and the tree was glad and smiled with tears.
******************
This is the story of everyone.
The tree is our parent. When we were young, we loved to play with Mom and Dad... When we grew up, we left them... We only came to them when we needed something or when we were in trouble.
No matter what, parents will always be there and give you everything they can to make you happy.
It may seem as if the way the boy treats the "tree" in the story is cruel, but many of us take our parents for granted in the same way.
Never forget how important your parents are and try not to take them for granted... they may not be around forever.
~Author Unknown~
12 comments:
I'd have liked the story better, if the boy had planted some of the apple's seeds and made an orchard!
We can learn a lot from the apple tree.
Enjoy your day.
Sunny :)
Patty, this is wonderful. How I wished some of my siblings would read this and learn their lesson from it!
Thanks for the post, and I'm going to call my mom and dad today.
Stephen Tremp
It makes me wish I could call my Mom and Dad. We do get absorbed in our oun lives don't we? Quite sad.
Lovely tale. I call my mother every Saturday morning- have done so for years. And I try to call her once or twice during the week. My father passed 20 years ago at a far too young 67 and I miss him.
My daughters seem pretty busy most of the time, but I'm sure that if I'm still around they'll start calling me more often.
I live on the west coast, my mother is in Tennessee, and my daughters are all over the place. We're all so far apart but I'm hoping that one day I can remedy that.
Lee
http://tossingitout.blogspot.com/
Oh do I understand your story and so do I agree.....
Dorothy from grammology
grammology.com
My first visit...
Makes me wish I could call my Mom and Dad as well. Good reminder to appreciate our parents while they're here.
Have a nice evening, Patty.
Renie
Hi again Patty ~~ This was a great story about the Apple Tree. The boy, and man took everything the tree had to give. I hope we don't do that to such a degree with our parents. Great post. Love, Merle.
What a very poignant post Patty, beautiful and sad at the same time but with a very important message. What a keeper!
All three of our children moved out on the same weekend together to go to college.
I remember how much I took my own parents for granted--knowing that takes the sting out away.
I still go back to the apple tree I climbed as a child. The nook at the to where I used to sit with a good book to munch an apple or two in summer--well, it is still there.
I climbed up there not too long ago...I love that old apple tree.
Touching post,Patty.
I sure wish my parents were still around to "play" with!
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