A Liverpool mother has said she has found a new purpose in life - as she celebrates the first anniversary of her wedding to a tree.
Kate Cunningham, 38, changed her name to Elder upon the union and reckons the marriage is the best decision she's ever made. She said has no plans to divorce her hubby, who resides at Rimrose Valley Country Park in Sefton, Merseyside.
Kate lives a polyamorous lifestyle, married as she is to her tree husband, while also having a human boyfriend - as well as two kids. They were left at home as she celebrated the anniversary with two friends and some elderflower champagne.
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She said she immediately knew the tree was 'the one' and visits her husband up to five times a week.
Kate explained: "I think getting married was one of the best decisions I have ever made.
"Not once have I thought that I shouldn't have done it. It's something that I feel like happened at the right time.
"Despite causing a little bit of embarrassment for my 15-year-old, he sees the bigger picture now and understands what it's for.
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"It's something which has made me feel a bit more confident about myself. I don't care about what anyone else says.
"Marrying the tree has given me a new purpose."
In all seriousness, Kate was inspired to get married to the tree by female activists in Mexico, who held similar ceremonies as a form of protest to raise awareness of illegal logging and land clearing.
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For the Merseyside mum, she hoped her marriage would attract attention to a campaign to save Rimrose Valley Country Park from being transformed into a bypass by Highways England.
Local residents campaigned to stop the new three-mile bypass, which aims to ease traffic congestion through Rimrose Valley into the Port of Liverpool.
The new dual carriageway would ruin the park, create traffic-related noise and pollution, the residents claimed.
Luckily, the proposed work, which was due to start in 'spring 2020', has been delayed due to the Covid-19 outbreak. At a consultation in 2018, Highways England refused to find alternative routes.
Nevertheless, Kate is clearly besotted with her woodland lover.
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She continued: "One day I was looking around tree hunting. I was like 'oh yea nice, nice, nice' as I looked at the oaks, but as soon as I saw the Elder, I thought 'that's the one'.
"It doesn't look like anything else around.
"I walked around it for a few hours because the park is so big. It's very diverse with lots of different areas.
"This one stood alone amongst the tree. I just feel like trees are people. Sometimes you just know.
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"You know if you feel attracted to someone or smile at them as you walk past, there's just a natural attraction."
We wish them all the best, and hope her other partner doesn't get too jealous of Kate's tree-votion.
Featured Image Credit: Triangle NewsTopics: UK News