The Tree and the Truth

“The Tree and the Truth

Cayce Mitchell

There’s a story I once heard that’s stuck with me ever since—maybe because it finally helped me let go.

It compares the people in our lives to parts of a tree.
Some are leaves.
Some are branches.
And some… are roots.

Leaves are temporary.
They come with the wind, and they go with the wind. They might bring color or shade for a while, but they were never meant to stay. And that’s okay. Some people are only there to teach us a moment, not walk us through a lifetime.

Branches are stronger.
They feel like they’ll hold your weight, and sometimes they do—for a season. But when the storm comes, and life gets heavy, they can crack. It doesn’t mean they were fake. They just weren’t built to go the distance.

But the roots?
The roots are rare.
They’re the ones buried deep, the ones who stay unseen but hold you together when everything above ground is falling apart. They feed you, ground you, and stick around through drought, wind, and change.

Like Preach said on All American, “Ain’t nothing like them sandbox friends.”
Those day-one people—the ones who saw you with nothing and loved you anyway. The ones who didn’t flinch when you were at your lowest.

But sometimes, in our need to hold on, we treat leaves like roots.
We beg branches to carry us through hurricanes.
And we lose ourselves trying to make someone stay who was only ever meant to pass through.

Letting go isn’t weakness.
It’s wisdom.

You’re not failing by releasing someone who’s no longer growing with you. You’re freeing up space for the ones who will hold you when life gets hard. The ones who remind you who you are, not just who you were.

So if you’re grieving a goodbye right now…
Know this:
Not every loss is a loss.
Sometimes, it’s just pruning.

And on the other side of pruning?
New growth.