When my daughter was in grade school, one day she brought home1tiny twigs. They were trees given to the students by the school to plant.2of them looked strong enough, but with a hope for the future I got a tool and3them in our back yard. Over the years, an accident with the lawnmower and poor soil brought a(n)4to three of them. All that was left was a single tree.
It grew5It never got very tall or very straight. Then, I noticed that it was starting to die. The leaves on the6branches had fallen of. Those on the branches a little further up had turned brown. Only the top part of the tree was7green. Last summer I did my best to save it by feeding it a lot of fertilizer8failed.
This morning I went to the9and looked at it again. I was wondering if it would be better to just10. It sure would no longer have to watch it slowly decay. As I walked over to take a closer look at it, however, I noticed11moving within the leaves in the topmost branches. It was a bird patiently building a nest to live in. I12when I looked at it and. decided that maybe this old tree had some life and usefulness left in it yet. It may not be healthy or pretty, but it was still giving a bird a13and oxygen to this world.
This tree reminded me of something too. All of our lives have14. It doesn't matter if we are young and strong or old and weak.15our last moment we always have things to do, love for us to give, and joy for us to share.
