As a child, one of my favorite books was Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree. If you're not familiar with the book, it's a story about a child and a tree who go through life together.
As the little boy grows older, the tree goes from being something to play on and something to provide shade from the sun, to being something to build with, and finally, when the man is elderly and the tree is just a stump, a place for him to sit and rest his legs.
The story is heartwarming and shows the incredible bond between humans and trees — in the book, the tree is always willing to give the boy anything he needs, thus its fitting name, the "Giving Tree."
Recently, a young woman named Phoebe was walking around her neighborhood in Oakland, California, when she noticed that there was a tree that had been cut down.
Looking at the stump, she noticed it was cut into the shape of a chair, and upon closer examination, she realized there were words written all over the tree stump.
[H/T Distractify]
While Phoebe was walking around her neighborhood of Oakland, California, she stumbled upon a tree stump.
When she came to the other side of it, she realized the stump was cut into the shape of a chair, and it had words written on it.
When she read what was written on the tree stump, she realized that someone had turned the ordinary chopped-down tree into an incredibly powerful message.
The tree stump, which was cut to resemble a chair, had words from Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree on it.
The quote inscribed on the stump is from the very end of the book, and it reads:
“I don’t need very much now,” said the boy, “just a quiet place to sit and rest. I am very tired.”
"Well," said the tree, straightening herself up as much as she could, "well, an old stump is good for sitting and resting. Come, boy, sit down. Sit down and rest."
And the boy did.
This quote shows us the importance of trees and our natural environment — every day, Mother Nature gives us so much; this tree stump is a reminder to not take it for granted.
We need to remember how important trees are for our everyday life, especially because so many of them are cut down every single day.
According to WWF, the equivalent of 48 football fields are lost every minute, to fires, clear-cutting, ranching, development, and logging.
WWF also estimates that 1.6 billion people rely on forests' benefits, like food, clothing, medicine, shelter, and fresh water.
Because trees are so important to both humans and animals, the note on the stump reminds us all to appreciate our natural environment.
People around the country have reacted positively to this tree stump. No one knows who wrote on the stump, but people continue to thank the anonymous writer for the wonderful Silverstein quote and reminder.
If you love The Giving Tree, please SHARE this article with your family and friends!
