Kiersten's Birthday Poem

"You are one," Grandpa said, "and it's time that you knew
Of our family tree and the way that it grew."
And I'll never forget how he looked as he spoke,
Then he took me to see it, the great Engen Oak.
It was down in the forest. It stood there so tall,
And he said, "This all grew from an acorn so small
That without looking close you could not see at all."

He showed me a branch for my Mom and my Dad
And for every relative I ever had,
For my aunts and my uncles, my cousins and more.
There were seven hundred six thousand zillion and four.
He showed me a branch that was up near the top.
That's your great-great-great-great-great-great Grandmom and Pop.
Their tree just keeps growing and never will stop.

On the trunk of the tree was a sort of a twig.
Grandpa said, "This one too will grow up very big."
And I saw his eyes twinkle. He smiled as he spoke.
"This twig will grow big on the great Engen Oak."
It is already growing as surely you see
With a stem that's already divided in three
On that beautiful, wonderful, great Engen tree.

There's an Oskar branch O, and an Annika A
And that branch is a one-of-a-kind Kiersten K.
An O and an A and a K, as you know,
When you put them together, the oak tree will grow.
Grandpa said, "It is good that we live very near.
For it means we can visit the forest right here.
We will watch this tree grow." And we did, every year.