Alpha Omega M.D. – Episode #61

Chapter Four

THE TREE OF LIFE

A family is like a tree. The roots anchor the tree, capturing water and mineral from the ground. The trunk gives this fibrous structure its height and is a conduit for up and down movement of nutrient. The branches project in all directions, sprouting leaves for the gathering of sunlight.

Without any one of these components, the tree will perish. Each succeeding generation of a family must be fruitful and multiply. The Endlichoffer tree, for example has branches in both America and Germany. The European limbs are many, old and established. The American bough, however, is barren, with leaves wilting from lack of buds, all caused by circumstances physical. There may be a day when the surname Endlichoffer will exist only on a death certificate, leaving gravestones as a legacy.

The Ferrell family tree is quite the opposite, with both Scottish and American members sprouting like proverbial weeds. When God created man in his own image, blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful and multiply’, the Ferrells have taken him at his word, replenishing the earth abundantly.

In fact, they even have leaf bearing branches that they would rather not advertise, sprouts of this and that that are not consistent with the overall lineage theme, as it was started in the British Isles.

A new branch on the Ferrell family tree, as unofficial as it may be, comes about with the birth of Maggie Lou, daughter of Laura Bell, seed provided by John Ferrell.

It is the Ides of March 1897, William Shakespeare’s ominous day for Julius Caesar and a bittersweet 15th day on the shores of San Luis Lake. The Endlichoffer’s butler, who has attended the doctor and his wife for decades and is retiring as soon as Laura regains her feet, had buggied to Hillside Estate to alert John Ferrell of some calamity across the lake.