“Mama LOOK a chickadee has landed upon my hand! Oh I have waited so long for this to happen.......”
Elderberry looked down at her daughters smiling face.
“Flower, isn’t this exciting?..... I told you someday the birds would come to you and now that you have grown and your branches are sturdier they can alight upon you. Now stay very still for a moment and let them come to know you. See the Nuthatch how he hangs from my bark and looks at you. He too will come to you now and Dove who waits in my branches to have her turn to meet you.”
“I think they like me Mama. I have watched them from down here hoping for the day they would come.”
“Of coarse they like you Flower. They have watched you, waiting for the day you were old enough to play with, always remember that being gentle builds trust with all wild creatures. Someday when you grow up many of them will come to you even in winter because our leaves stay green through out the cold times, many of them will count on you for shelter. When fall begins, like right now, we flower sending our perfume on the wind, honeybees and bumblebees will have the chance to gather sweet nectar to make honey and carry our pollen to other Elderberry like us and butterflies, like the monarch will drink our nectar to give them strength for their long migration.....................We all take care of each other.”

“Mama?”

“Yes Flower?”

“I am so glad I am what I am.”

by Liza Lambertini