The following conversation is based upon fact, folk lore, and fiction.

“Why so sad, Willow tree?” asked Big Oak.

“Today is my 30th birthday,” said Willow. “I have but two mornings left to live.”

“Geez, I knew you when you were just a sapling and I’ve watched you grow into a beautiful tree. Stand strong! Blow away the Grim Reaper!”

“I have shallow roots,” said Willow. “The next big storm can drop me right to the ground.”

“There will be no storm for the next two days,” said Big Oak. “Lift up your limbs. Be happy!”

“You seem to not know something about me,” said Willow. “That’s not my nature. Whenever it rains and the water drips off my leaves, I’m grieving in tears.”

“What in the world do you grieve for?”

“Well, my great, great grandfather became famous on the island of St. Helena where Napoleon was exiled. He would sit under Grandfather Willow every day reflecting about his lost honor. In fact, when, Napoleon died a lonely man, they buried him right under Grandfather Willow and people would come to cut a piece off his tree. One such cutting made it all the way to Washington DC.”

“Be proud then,” said Big Oak. “Your great, great, grandpa offered a place of solace to a man who had conquered the world.”

“In China, they think my kind can ward off evil spirits,” said Willow, “but the Druids used our branches and leaves to make witches’ brooms. And then there’s the story about the young woman and young man who shared a kiss right here under me 160 years ago.”

“Now wait a minute. I thought you said today is your 30th birthday.”

“I’ve had five 30th birthdays so far. We used to point our leaves upward toward the sky, but since the kiss between the young man and woman, we have been weeping ever since. Take a look at my bark.”

“Looks like somebody put letters there,” said Big Oak.

“The initials – JM + SB were carved on me 160 years ago after the kiss. Each time I come back to life and grow to full size, those initials always reappear. You see, the young woman possessed supernatural powers,” continued Willow. “She could lift her hand to the sky and pull out a flower from nowhere. She could light a candle without a match, open a door without touching it. She showed her boyfriend her power and he became angry. He thought she was a witch so he walked away from her. She was so upset she came here, kneeled under me, and cried. Well, he came back and found her here. They kissed again and he made her promise that she would never use her magic in public.

“And then they married. He became a blacksmith making beautiful metal sculptures. She cooked him delicious meals without using her hands. The Civil War broke out and he joined the army. He was killed in his first battle.

“She became so distraught that she hurried here one summer morning and took her own life,” said Willow. “That’s why we cry whenever it rains.”

“Why do you keep coming back to life?” Big Oak asked.

“She put a spell on me that gives me eternal life.”

Just then a beautiful young woman appeared from nowhere under Willow. In a burst of light, a young man arrived. They stood a distance away from each other.

“Why did you not use your magic to save me from dying in battle?” he asked.

“Because I had promised you to never use my power in public,” she said with eyes full of tears. And then I gave away my power to our tree here. When I heard you had died, I came here to die, I could not live without you, my love.”

He reached for her hand. A gust of wind blew through Willow’s leaves and just like that, they were gone.

Suddenly two men appeared holding chain saws. “There’s the big oak I was telling you about,” said one to the other.

“He’s a big boy for sure. Gonna make us a lot of firewood.”

Willow began to rock her trunk back and forth until the sky got black and a lightning bolt speared the ground just inches between the men.

“We’d better get out of here!” One shouted. With chain saws in hands, they scurried away.

“What just happened?” asked Big Oak.

“The young woman gave me her magical powers so I scared the bad men away with a lightning bolt. They won’t come here again.

“You just saved my life, Willow,” said Big Oak.

“Yes, but I could not save theirs. That’s why I weep and why all of us weep and cry tears when it rains.”

“But they are together again now, are they not?”

“Yes, they can be together forever now, but we willows will always weep for the broken-hearted.”

“Uh oh,” said Big Oak. “I felt a drop of rain. You’d better get your grief face on.”

Fifteen years then passed until Willow was born again from seed and was fully grown. She still cried whenever it rained, but there was one thing that looked different about her.

“Look at you now,” said Big Oak. “There’s a heart carved around the initials on your bark.”

“I do not know how that happened,” said Willow, “but ever since that appeared, I no longer have magic powers.”

Each year, on the anniversary of the young woman’s death, an event is held under Willow Tree. People come from miles away to hear the sad story of JM+SB told by a local historian and when a thunderstorm and the rain falls from the summer’s night sky, they say you can see the spirits of long gone broken-hearted lovers holding hands underneath weeping willow trees all across the country.