Photo copyright Michelle Schoffro Cook. All rights reserved.

“Apple trees typically grow ten to 15 feet tall,” they said. “They live up to 75 to 100 years,” they said. “Apple season is in the fall,” they said. It’s a good thing this apple tree, known as “The Empress” didn’t hear them, or at least didn’t listen, when it grew to the height of a four-storey building. Alive for well over one hundred years, The Empress bursts forth with sweet crimson apples every July and August, making it one of the rare early-season varieties. The next time someone tells you “it’s not possible,” “you’ll never succeed,” or “you’re not good enough,” consider the beautifully-rebellious Empress, that simply did what apple trees do, unbothered by limiting beliefs and small-minded opinions, and now stands as a living testament to the power of self belief and resolve. (Photo: I’m standing with The Empress here in this photo to show scale.)