The Esme Memorial Tree

This past Tuesday, May 26th, we held a tree-planting ceremony for Esme in a special place in beautiful Spring Grove cemetery. The usually quiet northwest corner of the cemetery grounds (http://www.springgrove.org/SG/PDF/SGMap.pdf), rang with the sound of many voices, as Esme's class from the Waldorf School gathered with friends from SCPA, the St. John's UU church community, family and other friends gathered to express our love for this special girl, and consecrate the spot with song.

The tree is a weeping cherry tree, more than a decade old, that was grown on the grounds by the arborists at Spring Grove. It is highly symbolic -- with gorgeous blooms that pass quickly, these trees are often associated with the transience of beautiful things and serve as an enduring metaphor for the ephemeral nature of life in many Eastern traditions.

We sang Esme some Beatles songs and some family songs, all helped to plant the tree and wrote messages on ribbons to tie onto the tree's many branches. What Esme would have liked the most was us gathering all of the people -- some 75 of her family and friends -- into a huge circle, holding hands, and offering thoughts of warmth and kindness to her spirit. She gave us so many, it felt like returning the favor. And although it was a bittersweet ceremony, the sun came out and shone upon us, and it felt like a fitting tribute to our wonderful girl.

Love to all.