Gitalongs: THE GUNNYSACK AND THE HANG-UP TREE

Some days when we arrive home from work at the same moment, I see my neighbor stop and admire a dogwood tree along the pathway from his car to his door. Some days he just eyes it as he passes, perhaps nods and smiles at it. Other days he appears to examine it for quite a while. On one such day, curiosity got the better of me and I hailed my friend as he was gazing at the tree. My friend half waved and continued to look at the tree. I approached quietly and looked at the tree to see what was so interesting. When my friend finally turned to me, I asked, "What are you seeing that I don't?"

"Oh - I’m unloading my gunnysack.” When I looked puzzled, he continued. “On the bottom branch to the right is the stupid fight I had with my son this morning about leaving clothes on the bathroom floor - again. On the next branch up is the short, uninformative retort I got when I asked my boss how my promotion was coming along. Up top is my secret, nagging disappointment that my son no longer kisses me goodbye in the morning. Just below that is my panic at seeing how short a skirt my daughter was wearing to school this morning. On the big branch to the left I hung the guy who cut me off and nearly drove me into another car on my way home tonight. That S.O.B. and the skirt issue are very raw and took some deep breathing to get rid of! But no one inside needs to deal with my gunnysack, so I always unpack it before I go in. Makes for a more pleasant evening and I figure the tree can use the fertilizer."

While this is my version of this story, I may have heard it when I was studying Transactional Analysis. If you know whence this story originated, please contact me at randmxcentric@gmail.com
The Gunnysack and the Hang-Up Tree by Abby Freeborn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. For permission to use contact randmxcentric@gmail.com