Sloane Tree

When I was growing up, we moved a lot. From the ages of 6 years old until 10 years old, we moved just about every year. When we finally settled into our first house in New Orleans, I was almost 12 years old. It wasn't a bad childhood, but it lacked continuity and family traditions. As I've gotten older, I've always looked wistfully on the family traditions and special things in the childhoods of my friends who grew up in the same place, in the same house. So, because John and I know that the house we are in now, our first house, is not our forever home (it's too small and has too many issues), we asked my parents to plant a tree for Sloane at their beautiful house in Covington.

It would be a tree planted in her first year that she could always know was to be "her tree." My mom reached out to her friend Susan who knows about such things, and it was decided that the tree would be a satsuma tree. The tree would blossom around Sloane's birthday in April and bear fruit in the fall, when we often come to New Orleans for a visit. The tree was planted by all of us (mommy, daddy, Sloane, grandma and grandpa) on March 1st at about 1:30 pm CT. It stands at 48 inches high and Sloane stands at 31 inches.


(notice Ruger the three legged dog from two houses over - Sloane fell madly in love with him)