The Wishing Tree at the Hospital Garden

In the courtyard garden outside the children's wing of our local hospital, there's an old maple tree hung with hundreds of ribbons. Kids, parents, nurses and doctors tie them on with wishes written on little paper tags.

I walked through the garden on my lunch break one spring afternoon and read some of the tags. "I wish for a puppy." "I wish my brother would share his Legos." "I wish for pizza for dinner." "I wish for my nurse Angela to win the lottery because she deserves it." "I wish everyone here a really good day."

I sat on the bench under the tree for a long time. Then I bought a ribbon from the gift shop, wrote "I wish for more days like this one" and tied it to a low branch.

It's still there. I check on it every time I pass by.