I was watching KOMO 4 this evening about the cutting of a 75-year-old tree.

It got me to thinking of my daddy and his love of Garry oaks. Our family landed here in the mid ‘50s and the family has lived here since that time. Yes, the USN brought us here.

So, I looked up Garry oaks on the Whidbey News-Times. Sadly, my late father is not mentioned anywhere.

No one loved trees more than my daddy and especially the Garry oak.

The following is a letter to the editor (which sadly I do not have the exact date of) but I have a faded original and a copy. Here is how is goes:

Solid oak opportunity

And the Garry oaks majestically lift their arms toward the sky, speak to me with their splendor whispering of tales of days gone by.

To those of you who, like myself, have watched sunrise, sunset beyond the allotted three score and 10 and wish to leave a living legacy of lasting beauty, may I make a suggestion? Plant a Garry oak.

I have about two dozen 3 to 6 year olds needing a permanent home. Please give me a call (they all went quickly).

Ralph T. Nunn

Oak Harbor

Come visit some 40-year-old originals, from acorns, 400 Ave. East, and many, many more in Smith Park, etc.

He was, and still is in heaven, an inspiration to all his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

I’ll take you on a personal tour any time. Many of our oaks have names. One planted in my yard (adjacent to my late daddy and mom’s home, in which she still resides, and I still live a stone’s throw away, and have for 21 years) is named “Little Ralphie.”

He is growing like a “bad weed” as to lift his arms toward the sky.

My daddy, a “true original.”

Diane Holmly

Oak Harbor