One Sunday, last April, we took one of our "nowhere" drives. My husband was quietly driving a back road. I was occupied in the front passenger seat watching the scenery.

I noticed out of the corner of my eye that my husband was straining to look out my window. I became concerned, since his eyes should be on the road.

I asked him what he was looking at out the window, and he quietly replied, "Nothing." His eyes then went back to the road in front of him.

After a few minutes, I looked over at my husband and noticed a tear running down his cheek. I asked him what was wrong. This time he told me, "I was just thinking about Pop and a story he had once told me."

Of course, because it had to do with his dad I wanted to know the story, so I asked him to share it with me.

He said, "When I was about 8 years old, Pop and I were out fishing and that's when he told me that the pine trees know when it is Easter."

I had no idea what he meant by that, so I pressed him to tell me more.

He continued. "The pine trees start their new growth in the weeks before Easter -- if you look at the tops of the pine trees two weeks before, you will see the yellow shoots.

As the days get closer to Easter Sunday, the tallest shoot will branch off and form a cross. By the time Easter Sunday comes around, you will see that most of the pine trees will have small yellow crosses on all of their tallest shoots."

I turned to look out the window and I couldn't believe my eyes. It was a week before Easter, and you could see all of the trees with their tall yellow shoots stretching to the heavens.

The tallest ones shone in the sunlight like rows of tiny golden crosses. --

See FirstTeachersAreWomen.com.