It was planted before we moved in, a spindly little that that stretched and reached pushing roots outward. Each spring, the pink petals would cascade down covering the yard in a fairey-tale wedding ike carpet. The beauty of the petals would last a day or so on the ground before turning brown, sticking to soes and paws and making their way into the house, only to be swept and replaced by the next days blossoms. It provided shade and backdrop of large pnk pompom clusters for tea parties and photo shoots. In summer months the kids, ours, neighbors and visiting friends would climb to dizzying heights above the house peering at all of us still on the ground.  It was a big deal to finally be old enough to reach the lowest branch unaided and therefore be allowed to climb into those branches.
Once I came home to drop someting off before immediately leaving again on yet another errand. I noticed a neighbor kid hanging by two hands and a foot from one of the low branches.  As I rushed into the house I casually said "Hello" and she calmly answered "Hello". I was barely in the house two minutes before scurrying back to the car. I happened to glance over and she hadn't moved. It was not a natural climbing tree state and so I asked if she was stuck. She was, her heal was caught in a "v" between two branches and her hands were starting to slip.  I have no idea how long she had been there.  We needed a new rule, climb with a buddy and only as high as you could get down alone.
At one point the kids had climbed up and hung a rope from one of the higher branches with a loop for their foot at the bottom. I looked out the window and realized that it looked like a noose in our front yard so a weathered splintered plywood square had a hole drilled and attached to the bottom of the rope for a swing.  It was put to good use over the years.
During the autumn months, it was release large brown leaves and cover the yard yet again and we were able to create the best leaf jumping piles if the rain didn't make it soggy first.
In winter months, the stark, bare branches would break the view of the endless grey of the sky.  I waited and watched for the signs of swelling buds of leaves and petals to start to form once again on my tree.
Over the course of years, the trunk started to thicken while the branches grew long and even more spindly. The roots instead of staying buried rose to the surface reaching further upward. the leaves would burst into green and then more and more would immediately turn brown and start dropping all summer long, not waiting for autumn before shedding an they would join the pink petals on the yard. The last few years, it became increasingly clear that our beloved ornamental cherry tree needed to be removed. We fought the idea of it but this we we could no longer but it off and so made that tough decision. The kids (or young adults) in our family ran through the emotions of anger, sadness and resignation to the fact they needed to say goodbye.  John and Job took turns cutting with a small borrowed chainsaw and then a larger borrowed chain saw until only the trunk was left. We hired a professional stump removal guy and he came and took the rest of the tree out, leaving sawdust and firewood. Grass of different type and color is all that remains of our tree in the front but maybe someday we will replace it with another.