Father, I Can Not Tell a Lie: I Cut the Tree

The cherry tree myth is one of the oldest and best-known legends about George Washington. In the original story, when Washington was six years old, he received a hatchet as a gift and damaged his father’s cherry tree with it. 

In a strange way this story was a part of my childhood. Growing up we had a large cherry tree near our garage. Once a year, one of our neighbors would drag over a ladder, pick a load of cherries and then bake yummy cherry pies.  We always got the first pie and it was delicious. 

I just went on Google Earth to look at my childhood home. I am sad to report that the cherry tree is gone. Guess the ghost of George Washington cut it down.