when dad died i named this sentinel tree his memorial tree. i think it has been the memory tree for many souls. i didn't want to get a baby tree and name it for him. the tree needed to precede him and go beyond him, and maybe me too. i'd like to become a sentinel tree, but i don't want to be so old. we don't grow old like trees. that's why we need them. to outlast us. it would be good if dad was a tree, or if he was absorbed into a sentinel, i'd like him to be a good old tree, and i would visit him, but now when i see the sentinel oak it is just a beautiful old soul holding the island with its roots and greeting everyone as a friend who passes through.