Thanks for Making me a Tree Planter Mom!

My mom loves trees. She always has. She loves to plant trees, care for them, and then sit back and enjoy everything about them.

With Mother’s Day coming up, I started to think about the hundreds of trees we planted together and how significant an influence she has had on me as she passed along her passion for trees.

I instantly thought about this picture of my family. It was taken when I was about 6 years old. It’s from one of the many day trips we took as a family in our old station wagon. My brothers, sister, mom, dad, and I are sitting on the south steps of Historic Arbor Lodge in Nebraska City, Nebraska — the home of Arbor Day founder J. Sterling Morton and the home of Arbor Day, the tree planter’s holiday.

I smile every time I look at this picture. My mom dug it out and sent it to me about a week after I started working at the Arbor Day Foundation. It was taken about 37 years before I was named president of the Foundation.

Like many Arbor Day Foundation members — and tree planters around the world — I was introduced to the importance and beauty of trees by my parents. My mom would plan excursions to local parks, find every opportunity to incorporate stops at national and state forests or parks into our family vacations, and call to the back seat of the station wagon for her kids to look out the car windows when we were driving past a spectacular vista.

Whether I recognized it at the time or not, my mother was teaching me to appreciate the importance of nature and trees. She made sure we were aware of the benefits and the beauty they provide. She was instilling in me the values of conservation and stewardship.

I owe a lot to my mom. I am proud to be her son and thankful for everything she taught me over the years. Especially the part about planting trees.

Happy Mother’s Day to my mom and to all mothers who are helping to raise the next generation of tree planters. Thanks for all that you do.