I got my motorcycle, a candy apple red 1996 Kawasaki 500, out of the garage and changed the oil, gave it a shower, rode it to the gas station and filled the tank. My plan was to go see Our Tree. After fueling up I came back to my house and put a flannel shirt and light jacket in the pack on my bike. The temperature was already pretty warm for late morning and I knew it would get hotter, but I learned long ago to always carry some extra warm clothing in case I didn't get back till after dark when the temperature around here dropped dramatically.

As I rode north on Hiway 3 out of Weaverville California, headed for Scott Mountain, I realized that this was the first time I had ever gone to see Our Tree alone.

I still remember the first time I saw Our Tree in the summer of 1974 as my wife Carmen and I went for a drive in our beat up Datsun pickup. We had been married November 1st of the previous year and our first child was due sometime in September. Carmen was miserable in the high 90's and over 100 degree heat we were experiencing so we decided to just go north on Hiway 3 and see if we could spend the day somewhere cooler.

The base of Scott Mountain is about fifty miles north of Weaverville and as we started up it we could tell the temperature was dropping a little. We had brought the camera and stopped a few times at cascading creeks that flowed under the road and gave a great backdrop for pictures. Near the summit, which is about 5,400 feet above sea level, we stopped again to take pictures of each other against trees just off the roadside. As I fiddled with the camera Carmen said, "Tim, look at that tree!" I looked in the direction she was pointing and saw the oddest looking tree I had ever seen.

It grew straight up as any self respecting tree would, but after about two feet it made a complete right angle away from the road and dipped down again touching the ground. The trunk traveled along the ground for about four feet and then swept upward in normal growth towards the sky to a height of about fifteen feet with the trunk being approximately twelve inches at its base. Carmen walked over and sat on the horizontal part of the trunk and said, "Take my picture here". I took a couple snapshots of a smiling young woman quite evidently pregnant and happy.

On September 11th of that year, 1974, our daughter Judith Fawn was born. In the summer of 1975 Carmen and I again went for a ride over Scott Mountain and of course Judy was with us. I don't think we were looking for Our Tree but when we neared the place where it was, Carmen remembered and spotted it. "Take a picture of me and Judy on the tree" she said. I took the pictures and declared this to be Our Tree.

The summer of 1977 found Carmen pregnant again with our second child, due in October. We had taken the trip over Scott Mountain each summer more to visit the small town of Etna and look at its many Victorian style homes than to visit Our Tree but we did stop each time to touch the tree and say hello. Now with Carmen pregnant again we stopped and took her picture sitting on the tree with Judy.

On October 24th 1977 Leah Marie was born. The next summer the trip was planned and this time specifically to take a picture of Carmen, Judy, and Leah sitting on Our Tree. This tree was like our family setting deeper roots, growing stronger, adding branches, and reaching upward for more of life. The future would reveal that Our Tree had only begun its job of "supporting" our family.

On April 24th of 1979 our son Kyle Ellsworth was born. I'm not really sure if we went to take the pictures that summer or if we waited till the next when Kyle was older but take the pictures we did. Some of Carmen and Kyle and some of Carmen, Judy, Leah, and Kyle together sitting on Our Tree.

As the years flew by, and the children grew as did Our Tree, we didn't visit as much but would sometimes look at the pictures taken years ago and remember the trips.

Now Judy was getting married to a nice young man named Matthew . I was happy for her but I admit I didn't handle it too well. I was losing one of my babies way too soon I felt. On August 27th of 1991 they presented us with our first Grandchild, Jacob Ryan. Of course with two different family schedules it was difficult to connect and get Judy, Matthew, and Jacob up to Our Tree for pictures. I think it was the summer of 1994 when we all made the trip and got pictures of the three of them together, Judy and Jacob, and Jacob alone sitting on Our Tree.

On August 5th, 1994 Matthew and Judy added to their family with the arrival of twin boys, Zachary Bryce and Timothy Gage (known as Gage). So far, the twins pictures haven't been added but I hope to remedy that this summer.

As I rode north alone on this Father's Day, all these memories were going through my mind. Why was I alone? Well, Matthew and Judy were camping with the children and another young couple, Leah had moved to Redding and Kyle to Anderson and were both working. Carmen and I had separated and divorced late in 1997. I hadn't seen Our Tree for nearly four years and though I looked carefully I missed it on the way up. Turning around at the summit I rode down slowly and then I saw it. I looked at it as I approached and I almost decided not to stop. I did stop though, parked my bike and removed my helmet. I gazed at Our Tree for a couple minutes with tears welling up in my eyes. I pictured Carmen and my children and Grandchildren sitting there. Was I crying because of the memories? No, I was crying because Our Tree, like the love Carmen and I had once known, had died.