Imagine my surprise. She had stood right outside my front door my whole life, all 13 years. As my brother, Miles and I sat on her stump Friday afternoon I realized a piece of our town history was gone forever. No one seems to know how old she was. Many neighbors say over 100 years, easy. She was there when the first dentist of Mount Pleasant, Dr. Furman moved in next door. I can picture his patients standing in her shade.

But for me, I guess it is more personal. In the spring we would watch the mother raccoon move into her hollow holes and soon the babies would be up and down her huge trunk. In summer my brother and I would sell lemonade below her branches and provide maps to the Wreck for lost tourist. Come fall she seemed spooky with her moss hanging over our Halloween grave yard out front.

Miles is the best tree climber in all of Mount Pleasant. I use to believe one day he would be sitting high in her branches, victorious, with my Mom frantically calling the fire department to the rescue. Sadly for Miles, not for my Mom, this will never be.

Our town is changing and many of the changes are great. The Waterfront Park is fantastic. Our new schools, Mount Pleasant Academy and Moultrie Middle are awesome. Other changes will take some getting use to. I miss my tree.

Ross Cary

Mount Pleasant

(Ross is 13 years old  and is a 7th grader at Moultrie Middle School).