The Giving Tree by Madeleine

The Giving Tree by Madeleine - May 2017 Scholarship Essay

Throughout my entire life I have been shown the love of a mother and without her ever expecting anything back she gave it to me unconditionally. She never questioned it she just knew that she was put on this earth to nurture her children and give them love and affection. Her full attention was always focused on the well-being of my siblings and I. It didn’t matter what age we were at in our life she would always give us all the same amount of love. Before she did anything for herself she would make sure we were taken care of, she put us first in every single situation. She gave and gave and even when she had nothing left to give us she found a way to make us happy.
I always loved to receive this love from my mother or at least until I turned 12 years old I did. Once I entered this teenage stage in my life the love of my mother became an embarrassment, especially in public. Whether it was a roll of my eyes or me completely blocking out my mother she kept giving no matter what. She never It never truly registered how cruel it was for me to not give her the same love back until I read The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. Although I had read the book prior to this I never would have thought that the words on those pages would replicate my mother and I’s relationship. The Giving Tree is just a harsher representation of what all parents go through with their children. I know that after I became aware of this similarity I began to appreciate my mother more for putting up with me and raising her kids single handedly. The tree from the book symbolizes the role of my my dear mother and the spoiled kid is sadly me.