November 19, 2021
Reflections, Day 42
“The things you do for yourself are gone when you are gone, but the things you do for others remain as your legacy.”
― Kalu Ndukwe Kalu
I really never set out to write a four part series on ginko trees—but when my 95 year-old father-in-law, Bob (Robert E.) Hicks gives me an assignment, then I have no choice. Bob was born in Rome and lives in Marietta. He told me that his maternal grandfather, Dr. Wicker, donated a ginko tree to Darlington school in 1907 and asked for a picture of it—well, you know how it is.
Darlington school in Rome, Georgia is a beautiful campus. I’ve been there on occasion, but I really don’t know my way around. Imagine my delight when my friend Layton Roberts offered to visit the campus and send me the pictures I needed. Layton had read the article that mentioned these trees on my johntheplantman blog and it all just sort of worked out.
Layton is my guest collaborator today. He wrote:
As promised, here are the only two Ginko trees on The Darlington campus. Both appear to be about the same age but one is taller. They are both planted near the old main entrance near the president’s house and can be seen from the Cave Spring Road across from De Soto Park Baptist Church. Notice the carpet of leaves below the trees! Glory!”
I wonder if Dr. Wicker had any idea that his name would travel world-wide through Facebook, email, and a WordPress blog. I can say “all over the world,” with authority because the wordpress stats tell me where the readers come from. The article that mentioned Bob Hicks and Dr. Wicker was read by people in Australia, The Philippines, France, China, Ecuador, Azerbaijan, and more. What a legacy from a donated tree. Dr. Wicker left another legacy too. He delivered a lot of babies at McCall Hospital. These babies grew up and gave birth to other babies who kept up the tradition of having babies.
So thank you to Layton Roberts, Bob Hicks, Dr. Wicker, and thousands of people who are descended from babies delivered by Dr. Wicker, the legacy lives on. We think that Dr. Wicker delivered baby Bob in 1926 also, which makes my sweet wife a part of the legacy.
—john schulz
Photos by Layton Roberts.
johntheplantman--Gardening 