Previously a tree stood on either side of this bench. Modest trees. Occasionally somebody would sit on the bench and look out over the park. I don’t recall when, but one day I noticed that one of the trees was gone. Just a small stump remained. Sometime later, the second tree was cut down. Nobody sits on the bench these days.
Now flanked by two stumps, the bench slowly decays. Weather takes its toll on the wood and metal. It seems tired. Before long it will fall into ruin, another victim of neglect. Perhaps somebody will remove the broken slats and rusted metal. Then only the small, easily missed plaque will remain, stuck in the ground marking a small stump: “In memory of William B. …”