I wrote this to my daughter a few days ago. I thought this forum might appreciate it, too. (The seedlings in question are pawpaws, fwiw.)
Dearest daughter,
We planted trees yesterday. They are tiny little seedlings, just a few inches tall and barely distinguishable from the grass around them. If all goes well, we will see the literal fruits of our labour in about 8 years.
This was the culmination of months of work. Every night, we would check on our seeds for signs of germination. Any that we found went into a repurposed soda bottle, which then went onto the window sills in your room. You have over a dozen in your collection by now. But finally, some of them have graduated to the outdoors.
8 years is a long time. You will be 11 by then, nearly in middle school. But, in the grand scheme of things, perhaps it isn’t so long after all. You will still have many more years to enjoy after 11, and even I can expect several decades worth of reaping.
I am writing this now so that you will remember. I don’t know what the coming days will hold. A storm might wipe out our work, or we might have to move away from it. But maybe, just maybe, you’ll be able to spend your formative summers enjoying snacks fresh from our yard. When you do, remember that the groundwork was laid for that now, in a time you probably don’t even remember. And then position yourself for the 8 years to come, and then for the years after that.
8 years is not that long. We build for the future.
