Big Sky Adventure | Day Five

WE MUST TRAVEL IN THE DIRECTION OF OUR FEAR.

 -John Berryman



‘There is a Tree in Montana’

Written by Marylin Foley, Brian’s mother BSK ‘94


There is a tree in Montana that is growing for me.

It was planted by human hands - a group of us - 

We got together, said a few words, put it in the ground.

It is a living thing.


We though, at the time, it was just another action.

We spoke self-conscious words, planted and dismissed.


But there is something in the human spirit;

We cannot give birth to life and then not have it haunt us.

It is our nature.


I see now what the tree means.

We gave birth to that time to…hope.

We see that whoever we are, wherever we come from, 

We are…the same.

We shared a time of pain, of opening to joy in life.

We are bound in spirit with yet another group of souls, 

though we may never see each other again.


And so we live more tenderly now,

We give back that joy in little things to those around us.

We have agreed to have our hearts broken again and again, 

knowing we can let it go right through us, like rain and snow goes through the tree to become one with the earth.


It is a living thing.


The tree will come and go I know.

But we will have been there. We have seen it.

We have unknowingly pledged ourselves to God’s love.


There is something of the human spirit in it. It grows.

Once having been planted, it can never be said it didn’t exist, it wasn’t real.


We take the vision. We cherish it. We know was it means. 

We thank God for each other. 


If we listen carefully we can hear it growing.

Peace is an evergreen tree.

Big Sky is a place for big souls; opening, growing, feeling, joy.


There is a tree in Montana that is growing for me.


Big Sky Adventure | Day Four

I have always felt that laughter in the face of reality is probably the finest sound there is and will last until the day when the game is called on account of darkness. In this world, a good time to laugh is any time you can. 

— Linda Ellerbee


Big Sky Adventure | Day Three

“I sustain myself with the love of family.” -Maya Angelou  

Personalities start to emerge. Laughter carries the conversation as old school Smash Mouth radiates through the travel speakers. Dancing. Sunshine. Conversation. I subtly sit in the backdrop taking it all in, falling in love with the family forming right before my eyes.

The days are rapidly disappearing too soon; time is fleeting. But to say we are loving our present life would be an understatement. We are indulging in all the good company and opportunities provided for us this week. Good things, good things. 

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