rechelle's lifelyrics

I just read “The Big Rock and The Little Yew” to my Grandson the other day, and I’ve been thinking about it all week!

It is the fictional tale based on a natural wonder in the United Kingdom that answers the question, “How could this have happened?” It was sort of a long book to read to a five year old – even with the promise that we would choose another fun activity to do after I finished the reading – but I think we both got some things out of it. I was really glad we shared that time together, and for the thoughts it has provoked for me since Monday.

“The Big Rock and The Little Yew” was written by Gregory M. Ahlijian with beautiful illustrations by Janna Roselund, and describes the fascinating fact that a great, beautiful yew tree grew up out of the midst of a huge limestone rock. Upon more research, I have found that the tree pictured at the back of this little book is still proudly standing at Wakehurst Place in West Sussex, England which is now a National Trust property.

One of my biggest takeaways from the book is at the end (spoiler alert), when the author explains, “So you see, without the will of the yew tree, the large rock would have remained just another rock in the forest, never to be given a second thought. The yew tree, on the other hand, in a less challenging location would have grown to be just another tree in the forest.”

I have been recently reflecting on many hard things that I have gone through in my life. I’ve been reminded of the feeling of not knowing how I would take one more step or if I would even make it through the difficulties I was facing. As I was reading about the Little Yew Tree’s (almost) impossible struggle to my Grandson, I was relating every page to past experiences when I felt those feelings, and saw those situations playing out in my life in different ways. Placing the lens of the author’s words on top of those memories has given me even more gratefulness for the hardships I have had to work through.

Please visit www.littleyewtree.com to find out more about the book and to see how book sales are being used to help abused and troubled youth in our community. The author is an artist and arborist who has spent many years as a mentor at Jasper Mountain School.