My name is Joel McAlister. I am a priest at a new church in Fort Worth named St. Brigid Episcopal Church, located in the Near Southside neighborhood. My family and I moved into our house in the Westcliff neighborhood a little over two years ago, in July of 2023, from Tyler, Texas.
It took some time for us to feel settled in Fort Worth, since my wife and I were starting new jobs and our children, now 5 years old and 2 years old, were attending brand new schools. During the first couple of months in our new neighborhood, we decided to plant a tree in our front yard. We had talked to a few of our neighbors and learned that there had never been a tree planted on this lot as long as anyone could remember. So, we went to a tree nursery and picked out the hardiest live oak we could find.
It felt like it was our little offering to the property that would eventually outlive our time here, and it acknowledged our family putting down its roots…