Through my short 18 years of life, I have seen many things come and go. From toys, to our favorite hangout places, to the makeup and clothes we have, to the places we visit, and to the people in our lives. One thing that always seems to be present is one tree that has kept me in it’s shade for as long as I remember.

This tree provides me with the comfort and familiarity of love I depend on. It’s branches stretch far and wide throughout many places, and I can only hope other people feel the same about this tree.

However, this tree has been dying. Not a beautiful or poetic death, but a harsh hurricane of damage that no single person can repair. Watching this tree die, I have tried to stop it. New seeds, extra water each day, and extra sunlight to help it grow. As I seemingly endlessly attempt to help the tree, I am only watching it die slower. I know my efforts have failed, and only prolonged death, but a broken tree is better than no tree at all.

It is not easy, watching each and every leaf on each and every branch slowly turn grey. Each leaf that falls leaves behind its silhouette and a sign that reads stereotypical phrases about life and death. It is not easy to see the falling debris from the one thing I love the most. One can only hope and pray that the debris will come to an end, but once a fire is lit in a forest there is virtually no way to end it.

Some days are better than others though. It can go days, weeks and seldom months without a disturbance. When this tree shines in the sun’s rays, it is so breath takingly beautiful. My speech becomes shaky as I cannot form such a perfect accuracy to do this tree justice. It’s flowers blossom, its leaves turn the brightest shade of green, and its branches are plentiful with the nutrients each leaf needs to grow.

However, my tree is dying, Of course this is no ordinary tree; not a oak or maple. It is the tree that made me who I am. Its biology has created my DNA and it has fueled my passions through it’s never ending flow of support and love. I am nothing but a leaf of this tree, and I am watching it wilt into nothing, and there is nothing more I can do, and for that- I am sorry.