The mail-order tree

Shortly after we moved into the house on Northgate Parkway, we received a long white tube in the mail.  When Dad got home from work, he called Greg and I to the front yard.  He had the tube and a new shovel.  From the tube he produced a Silver Mable sapling.  As I remember, it was about 3 feet tall, about 2 inches in diameter, with a small root ball, tied in twine.  He told us that we were going to plant our first tree.  We took turns digging the small hole, and our job was to hold the tree straight while Dad filled in the hole.  He told us it was a Silver Maple, and that the leaves would be green on the top and silver on the bottom.  He also said that it would grow very fast.  Not fast enough for us, bacause there were no leaves on it the next day. 
Dad cared for that tree all summer and cleared the snow from around its base all winter. 
He told us that one day we would all sit around under it and enjoy its shade.