When most of us think about our grandmothers, the first thing that comes to mind is a sweet old lady that would do anything in order to make us smile. We often have a love for our grandmothers that is difficult to express and they continue to be a part of our lives, many years after they are gone. Of course, I think we would all admit that grandmothers are also people and sometimes, they may get into a little mischief. That was obviously what this grandmother had in mind in the following fictional story about some mulberry trees and sweet revenge.
“My grandmother got married in 1962 to a young man in the military. For a wedding present, their parents bought them a house in a nice suburb. White picket fence, whole 9 yards. Not long after they moved in, the next door neighbor planted a mulberry tree on the side of his property, near my grandparent’s driveway. Nothing seemed amiss, but if you know mulberry Trees, you know that this is about to get real.
About 15 years later, the mulberry tree was OBNOXIOUS. The birds would come and eat the berries, and any car parked in the driveway would get pooped on, and it would stain the cars and ruin paint jobs. My grandmother, upon realizing the culprit, baked a nice apple pie, walked next door, and asked the neighbor if he’d mind trimming back the branches of the tree that hung over her driveway. He told her not to worry, he’d get to it soon. Three days later, my grandmother opened her door to find a half-eaten pie in the plate, crawling with ants, and a note that said: ‘I changed my mind.’
My grandmother threw out the pie, cursing up a storm, and swearing up and down she’d get him to trim that tree or get him back. The city ordinance said she could not trim the tree, as the roots were on his property, so the whole tree was his property.
As the years went by, my grandmother repeatedly asked him, ever so nicely, to trim it back. His responses were always along the lines of ‘No’ and ‘Buzz off.’
Finally, in the mid-90s, my grandmother retired and received a large bonus from her employer for her 35 years of work. She took the money, and bought the empty lot on the other side of the neighbor. She then went to the nursery and bought 16 mulberry trees to plant along the property line on both sides of the property.
She became angry at the damage about 3 years ago that they were going to the cars and cut them back without permission. My grandmother took them to court and he was forced to reimburse her for the trees at a markup because they had 10 years to ground.”
