The Birch Tree

My grandmother had a single birch tree in the middle of her backyard. The only one of its kind in our neighborhood. The birch was a small, slender tree compared to the towering oaks and maples. It leaned to the East as if it was reaching out for something. In traveling back to her home country, I finally understood the single, slender tree. White bark lined the way to her childhood home. Birch forests peppered the surrounding moors. My Oma was reaching for home.