The Lookout Tree
by
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I remember the first time that I met Cricket. It was a blistering hot day in June of 1978. Her real name was Elizabeth Ann Mitchell, but everyone in the small
You see Cricket didn’t have a filter; you know that filter that prevents you from saying everything that you are thinking? Well, Cricket had no such restraints. She said whatever came to her hyperactive, little mind. Today, I suppose that we would say she was suffering from autism and perhaps ADHD, but in 1978, most people were simply not familiar with such labels. All I knew, at the time, was that Cricket was simple, impulsive, easily agitated, tender-hearted, and honest. Almost honest to a fault. And as I grew to know Cricket, I learned to love and respect her for each and every one of her most unique character traits.
Yes, Cricket was...different and the truth was that most people had a difficult time understanding and interacting with her and as I stated before, most people found her annoying, but for me, Cricket would touch my life is such a way that I would be changed forever.
But before I talk about that, let me tell you a little about myself and how I came to live in the sleepy, small town of
I was born in the small town of
My father worked as a mechanical engineer designing aircraft engines for Bristwell Aeronautics, a company that the government contracted to build fighter jets for the navy. Bristwell had nine different design centers located all around the world. By the time I was ten years old, my dad had worked at seven of these facilities. So, needless to say, we moved a lot.
In the spring of 1978 we had just finished our second year of living in
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About the Book
In 1978 Addy Dawson was ten years old when her family moved to the small farming community of Pleasant View. Addy is quickly befriended by a another ten year old girl named Elizabeth Mitchell or as everyone in town calls her 'Cricket'. Addy soon learns that Cricket is a very special girl with a strangely unique gift. The two girls develop a close friendship while hanging out on the branches of a big oak called the Lookout Tree. As their friendship matures, Addy learns that Cricket's mother has died, that her father treats his daughter as nothing more than a nuisance, and that Cricket feels alone and abandoned by a mother that she never knew. The long conversations at the Lookout Tree are both profound and innocent and provide a depth of love that only friends, true friends, can share.
As the year progresses, Cricket becomes extremely ill. Her condition sets into motion a chain of events that will ultimately, unite a community, bring redemption to a neglectful father, and will forever, change the lives of those closest to Cricket.
The Lookout Tree will delight your senses as it takes us back to a time when joy could be found flying through the air in an old tire swing, riding a bike with a friend on a dirt-covered, country road, or lounging lazily under the shady leaves of a giant oak tree.
This simple story of love and friendship will put a smile on your face, tug at your heart strings, and when it is finished, will make you want to go back to the beginning and start all over again.
About the Author
J. Scott Romig is a physician assistant and a medical officer in the Indiana Army National Guard. He is the author of Hannah KaReese and the Island of Moorea. J. Scott lives in