Even though I was just a factory worker I knew instinctively that young children learn by exploring their world. If Audra couldn't explore it on her own then I decided that I would help.

How can you know what cold water is if you never have it run over your feet from a hose on a hot summer day? Or feel sand run through your fingers and squish between your toes at the playground sandbox?

One of my childhood joys had been climbing the old Walnut tree that stands in my parents backyard. A joy I was afraid that Audra would never know. One idle afternoon at grandmas I got the crazy idea to show Audra what it was like to climb a tree.

As my mother held her in her arms I swung up on the ancient old tree and climbed the trunk to a stable spot. Grandma held Audra high above her head, until I got a good grip on her and could pull her up into the tree with me.

We climbed a little higher and there we sat for sometime. Looking down at the earth, at grandma and the world. We sat half hidden shadowed by the green leaves of that old Walnut Tree and I said, "Audra, this is what it feels like to be in a tree" and it did...