While reading about Central Park over the years, I’ve come across a number of articles about a pet memorial tree located in a secluded place deep within the Ramble. Pet owners who live close to Central Park know about this and many visit yearly to pay their respects to their furry pals.
The tree is filled with handmade dedications to dogs, cats, rabbits and more. City dwellers travel to the semi-secret location to hang laminated photos and notes, tie ribbons and mementos to the branches, objects that function as decorative ornaments while honoring the various animals.
When I’ve been in NYC for the holidays, I have hunted for the pet memorial tree quite a few times but had no luck finding it. This year, my daughter was with us and I told her about this tree. She has an incredible sense of direction and uncanny way of finding anything. Remember the “Where’s Waldo?” books? She could find Waldo in no time. Anyway, we took the subway to 77th Street and off we trooped through Central Park. After a mile or so, she found the tree. We didn’t have a commemoration for our pets, but once we got back to the hotel it didn’t take long to download a few photos to a flash drive, find a spot to laminate them, and returned to hang our ornaments on the tree a couple days later. Top right, Coby. Next dog down, Ted. The guy with the big white ears, Clark. The chocolate lab at the bottom, Hunter.
"Dogs' lives are too short. Their only fault, really." – Agnes Turnbull
A tree covered in love.
ReplyDeleteHow sweet! I love this. I have to remember this and bring some photos to add the next time I'm there.
ReplyDelete