They sent me a tree.

I went out and collected the mail today to discover a long, oblong box. It was marked "contains a live tree." Say what?

Opened it up, and sure enough, there was a little arborvitae in a little canvas root ball. The note inside read:

Mr. David B. Feeney and the staff at Feeney Funeral Home sent you a memory tree. We feel that this is a gift not only to you in memory of (Suzanne), but also to the whole world for generations to come.

I hadn't planned any yardwork for the weekend, but I guess I can plant this little thing. It came from a company in West Virginia that apparently exists soley for the purpose of mailing little sapplings to be planted in memory of somebody.

I guess I will put it out next to the driveway, since Suzy loved this house so much. By the way, is anyone else's dear spouse still managing to put brand new tasks on the to-do list?

It's also kind of nice that the funeral home remembers me after 5 1/2 months. Although for what that service cost, I guess it's not really surprising.