Once a year, in a tiny part of a huge park, appears a special tree.

Well, the tree is always there, but for a small period of time it transforms into something magical.

If you’re lucky and you stumble upon it, make sure you take a moment to honor those who are pictured on it.

After all, once the holiday season is over, the tree goes returns to normal. Just simply another tree that lines Central Park in New York City.

Dubbed the Pet Memorial Christmas Tree, it is covered in hundreds of notes, laminated photos of pets who have died, and other assorted memorials to animals that were so clearly loved.

A writer, Larry Closs, recently wrote about the tree on a blog, in an effort to trace its history back to the beginning,

The tree, he wrote, is called a False Cypress, which is also known as a White Cedar. The White Cedar has another name, as well – arbor vitae or Tree of Life.

Marianne Larsen, keeper of the Pet Memorial Tree, hugs her dog, Ulla, beside the tree. Photo by Dave Sanders, NYT

What Closs also discovered is that sometime in the late 1980s, Jason Reddock, a casting director, was walking his dog in the area when he saw the tree with dog toys on it. The following day, he returned with a friend and found the tree again.

The pair began a tradition, Closs wrote, of returning to the tree and adding ornaments and mementos of their own.

“Since the tree was an evergreen, and since Christmas was only weeks away, the pair decided it was a Christmas tree and thus the Pet Memorial Christmas Tree was born,” Closs said.

“It’s always extremely moving and extremely touching when somebody comes and they have, I call them, remembrances, mementos,” he said.

You watch them put (the memento) up on the tree, you know, and tears inevitably follow. And it’s hard not to get choked up in those circumstances.”

From Milo, commemorated as “A Good Boy,” to Sherman, the Eastern box turtle, and Miss Parker, the “fearless, independent, and amusing” Central Park squirrel, all pets are welcomed on the tree.

It is decorated by the “Keeper of the Tree” and other volunteers each year. It’s displayed between Thanksgiving and Three Kings Day in January.

The keeper removes and saves each memento so they can be put up again during the next holiday season.

The location of the tree was kept secret for years, said this year’s keeper Marianne Larsen. Even now, its location is largely unknown.

A tree located in the Ramble in Central Park is an open pet memorial. Photo courtesy of Lori Rumpel

“You’ll walk by and go, ‘What’s that?’” Larsen said.

And if they take a moment to go in, they’ll see that it’s a memorial tree because some people think it’s just a celebratory Christmas tree, but it’s not.”

Central Park, which is more than 840 acres, has over 18,000 trees, according to the Central Park Conservancy. So for the one tree, hidden in a small part of the park known as the Ramble, to be found often by accident is a bit of happy magic.

Lori Rumpel, a 35-year Manhattan resident, said she only stumbled upon the tree recently while taking a stroll through the Ramble.

“It’s so unique and special, unlike any other tree in Central Park,” she said. “It warms my heart. (You can) feel the love in each and every photo.”

Watch below for a look at this heartwarming memorial to pets both loved and lost.

Sources: NY Post | New York Times