Over the next couple weeks in Washington D.C. the National Cherry Blossom Festival is on the calendar. The blooms are a beautiful reminder of Spring but this year they have an even more poignant reminder. In 1912 Japan gave the US over 3,000 cherry blossom trees to celebrate their growing friendship. The trees were planted on the Tidal Basin in D.C. and have become a famous frame to some of our nation’s most treasured monuments. So, this year, the festival is dedicated to the people of Japan who are currently trying to blossom out of an enormous tragedy.