Rachael's Tribute to Pepere

Today was the running of the Preakness again. My Pepere used to go every year and win big money on the races, okay, not big money...alright, he went to the races every year. So Daddy and I have taken up a tradition of planting some of Pepere's favorite trees on every Preakness in his memory.

Me and Daddy at the tree

We name the tree after the winner of the race, and this year, a girl named Rachael won the Preakness...so we're naming the tree "Rachael Weeping Cherry". I know, it sounds weird, but really, who names trees anyway? So we name it whatever we want, cause the name isn't any weirder than naming it at all...

I got dirty too!

This year, Uncle Andy and Kaycee helped us plant the tree...okay, Uncle Andy did most of the work, but only because Daddy took so long trying to decide what tree to get, and then where to put it. By the time we got around to planting it, post time was about to start...

Uncle Andy and Kaycee

Uncle Andy hard at work

Me toooooo!

"Hey Remi, I don't think you're supposed to be doing that."

Hi Pepere. We're thinking about you. Daddy always tells me stories about how great you were... I love you.

Pepere's Tree

Today was the 133rd running of the Preakness. My Pepere (that's what I call my grandpa) used to go every year, and Daddy and my uncles used to go with him. My Pepere died before I was born, but Daddy was thinking about him today, and he told me a lot of stories about him.

Daddy wanted to dedicate something to Pepere, so he went to the garden store and got a Japanese Red Maple, which was Pepere's favorite tree. I helped Daddy plant it while Daddy told me more stories about him.

"Big Brown" won the Preakness today, so Daddy and I named the tree "Big Red" to mark the day.







I wish I got to meet my Pepere- he sounds like my kind of guy. I love him.