"TREE"

I love trees!
I'm not sure if it's my family history of bushworkers or whether it's the symbolism they bring to mind in the form of family trees, roots and branches.
I remember always relishing the challenge of getting a "Family Tree" assignment at school. I come from a family of ten children, my Dad is one of ten children and my Mum is one of six children! On my Dad's side of the family I have 34 cousins and on my Mum's side I have 23 cousins. You can see why it was a challenge...but I think the reward came in the form of amazement shown on the teachers' faces when I submitted the extra large pieces of paper all joined together to make sure that each and every one of my extended family was included! I loved it!!
 I have included the following photos because they bring back memories which are important to me and which involve trees in some form or another.

Our first house in Scenic Rd had a lovely big wattle tree in the back yard. John built a tree house in it which had a slide attached to it. The kids spent endless hours in this tree. It was a happy place! This picture shows Jake with his cousins, Simon and Peter, monkeying around in the tree.

 

This photo was taken the day after Sian's 21st birthday in January, 2011. My family met at my sister Kerryn's place to celebrate another sister, Julie's, 50th birthday. This lovely shady tree has a bench seat built around it and was perfect for a fun family photo. Unfortunately, not everyone was there but it does include all of my brothers and sisters and my Mum, Dad, daughter and some nieces and nephews.

This is a photo of "The Tree of Life" which is displayed in the foyer of the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine in Melbourne. My Mum and I attended a ceremony there to honour all those who donated organs or tissue in 2011. Each leaf on the tree represents a donor for that year. One of the gold leaves near the top of the tree has Jake's name on it as he posthumously donated tissue to brain research. The tree stands over two metres tall and we found it very fitting that we could barely reach Jake's leaf. He was SO tall!!