A great elm tree was planted in the first half of the 20th century on a farm in Michigan, US. The family that owned the farm kept a bull chained to it. The bull walked around the 1pulling a heavy iron chain, which made a wound in the tree about a meter off the ground.
The wound became deeper and deeper over the years, 2it didn't kill the tree. After some years, the family sold the farm and took their 3with them. They cut the chain, leaving most of 4 hanging down from the tree. Then one year later, disease struck Michigan. It left a path of death across large areas. Lots of the elms leading to the farm were dead. Everyone thought that the old elm tree would be the 5.The farm's new owners considered pulling the chain out and chopping the tree up into firewood before it 6.
But they simply couldn't bring themselves to do it. It was as if the old tree had become a family friend, so they decided to let the 7 make the decision. 8, the tree didn't die year after year. It became stronger. 9 could understand it. Tree experts from Michigan State
University came out to study.10 it was the only elm still standing in the whole area. After 11 the wound left by the iron chain, the experts decided that it was actually the chain that 12 the elm's life. They reasoned that the tree must have taken so much iron from the chain that it became 13 to fight the elm disease, it's said that what doesn't kill you will make you 14. It serves as a reminder that even with wounds, we can still have 15. Our wounds can give us the resources we need to survive. They can truly make us strong.
