I’ve been visiting the Arboretum since the 1980s. I moved to Cambridge from Florida, and I fell in love with the Emerald Necklace and the expansive green space of the Arboretum. I love the dawn redwoods you got from China. I raised my children there, and we thought of it as our own backyard. We never miss the lilacs. These days I live in Winthrop, but I ride my bike to the Blue line and then switch to the Orange line toward Forest Hills. I ride around the Arboretum and do a lot of birdwatching, and then I ride my bike down the Greenway toward the Charles River and hop on the Blue Line towards home. There are trees that I have been hugging for 30 years. They feel like family.