The year we moved into our house I went to K-Mart to buy "decorations" for our yard. It was the end of the planting season and a clearance sale was ending in the yard and garden department. Two sad looking sticks sat, waiting for a new home. As I looked at the sorry little twigs I asked the clerk if they were still alive. The clerk responded by snaping the end of one of the branches, showing me there was still a little life. As she snapped the twig, she told me the story had a money back guarantee. She said we could plant the tree and if it died within a year they would cheerfully replace the tree or refund my money.
I told the clerk I would have to think about it. She responded by telling me not to wait too long because the man was supposed to come that night to haul everything away. I offered to haul the twigs away - and they would not have to pay me. In the end, I decided that $5.00 apiece was not a bad price, after all, they had a money back guarantee.
I brought those two little twigs home & my hubby planted on outside our back door and the second on about 15 feet away. The next spring the tree outside our front door showed signs of life but the poor other twig was definitely dead. My husband dug it up and headed back to K-Mart. As he left, I told him I wanted another Bradford Pear to replace it. We needed two Bradford Pear trees close by if we hoped to produce pears.
My husband arrived at K-Mart with receipt in hand but the poor little twig still had the $29.95 price tag hanging on the branch. The clerk informed my husband that they did not have any Bradford Pear trees in stock so she would refund his money. She rang up $29.95 (plus tax) and handed it to my husband. Being the honest person that he is, he showed her the receipt for $5.00. She told him the store's policy is to refund the full price since we would have to go elsewhere to find a replacement.
Fortunately, we never replaced that tree. The remaining twig grew and grew. There would not have been room for two trees in the small space. The remaining twig grew more until it was a big tree. The big tree grew more. Every year we would trim branches to prevent the tree from hitting the house. We would trim branches so we could walk under the tree. We would trim branches so the tree wouldn't be lopsided. The tree provided shade at the end of our deck. The tree provided privacy. We could sit on the deck and people walking on the street couldn't see us on our deck. The tree also provided shade for a small garden of special plants at it's base. In the spring Robins would build nests in the pear tree.
Tonight, the pitiful little twig that grew into a big beautiful tree blew down. Fortunately, it blew down without d
amaging our house, cars or the neighbors house or cars. No people were hurt. My husband and son managed to cut the rest of the tree down without getting hurt or causing any damage.We will miss this tree. The Robins will return in the spring and will miss their branches. R.I.P. beautiful pear tree.
