I post this in honor of my mother, Mary Kay Freeman, who passed away last month. This is a picture of my Mom & Dad in the summer of 2005 when we were in Michigan to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.  We took a drive that day to the town of Howell to see the old McCloskey home where my Mom grew up.  The current owners of the home were very kind to allow us, and their were quite a lot of us, including my brothers and sister and their families, and a couple of my uncles, to see the place we all remembered so well and had not seen in years, for my brothers and sister of Michigan summers of our youth, for my mother and her brothers of memories so much further back. The great willow tree standing behind my parents stood behind home plate in early childhood baseball games.  It watched over numerous family croquet tournaments.  It sheltered great family picnics.  It was planted on June 18, 1955 on the day of my parents' wedding.  It will forever be, in our hearts, our family tree.  Some tree's roots grow deep within us, their branches harbor our fondest memories.
- Tim Freeman