We bought Highland in July 1978 and took a year to renovate the dilapidated historic landmark, so our first real opportunity to start the gardens was Spring of 1980.

The way the new outdoor sidewalks and stairs got laid out created a great opportunity to plant a tree in a prominent central location in the new garden. Since I had promised Constance to build her a “Gramercy Park,” even though I had never seen it, I told her she could pick this important tree.

After visiting multiple nurseries, one day Constance showed up with a skinny 5’ evergreen that she had paid $60 for, a huge sum back then considering how broke we were. More importantly, this tree was a midget requiring decades of growth to be worth its august position in our budding garden.

Fast forward 42 years and our tree had grown so much taller than Highland, the building was no longer able to protect it from the recent 100-mile-an-hour winds we experienced in early January, and again last week.

The bad news is that after 42 years of playing a prominent role in our award-winning gardens, our beloved tree fell. The good news is that no one was hurt, the tree did not fall against the building, and caused minimum damage to the adjacent trees, furnishings, and lights.

After a few hectic days of feeling the loss, assessing the damage, getting bids to remove the tree, and pruning the nearby oak, I finally had time to reconcile with the sadness of losing this tree and balancing that feeling with the excitement of the potential for what’s possible in this prominent location.

As a Stoic who has faced death multiple times, I am comfortable with life’s cycles and realize that death and rebirth are the two sides of the same coin. But more importantly, the falling of this tree was a reminder that the Sina/Constance era is nearing its end, so Dustin gets to be involved in the design of this area of the garden.

— Sina.

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