One Apple At a Time

These are hard days.

So, so hard.

Fellow empaths – unite.

 

What does one turn when everywhere you look is hatred?  And sadness?  And anger?  Where is the respite?  How do you come up for air?  How do you BREATHE?

Work has been stressful.

The house is a mess.

The to do list is a mile long (and in my head when it should be on paper).

A pantry guest betrayed my trust and hurt my feelings.

A friend is going through a difficult time.

Neighbor after neighbor after neighbor are losing their jobs.

It is a lot.

 

Tonight, I turned to PRODUCE.

 

More specifically, clementines.

“What is my favorite department at the grocery store?” I thought to myself.  “If I suddenly lost my job (unfairly and by no fault of my own)…  If I suddenly did not know where the next mortgage payment was coming from, how I would pay the car insurance, what is something I would have to cut out of my life but would miss?”.

And the answer was easy.

Fresh produce.

Broccolini.  Asparagus.  Brussels sprouts.  Hell, I would even miss cauliflower.

And mango.  And strawberries.  And perfectly ripe pears.

I would miss fresh produce.

So, after I finished a task that I had committed to, I messaged a friend who recently got fired unjustly.  “I am heading to the store – need any produce??”.  She excitedly replied that she would love chives and cilantro. 

“Favorite fruit?” I prompted, knowing that chives and cilantro would not suffice in this “feeling like the end of the world” scenario.

“Hmmm that’s a good one… those tiny oranges? The easy to peel ones? Although I don’t think they are in season…” she replied.

CLEMENTINES!  Shopping list ready!!

But get this.

As somehow so often happens in my world, before I could even drive to the grocery store, I got this message from another friend who is a remarkable supporter of the Little Yellow Free Pantry.

“Would you like some eggs this week? I got an extra dozen and could split it into two cartons.

Oh, also fresh mandarins.”

CLEMENTINES!!!  The very fruit that was on my shopping list!  (Now I confess, perhaps I only THINK mandarins and clementines are the same fruit.  They look alike!  If I am wrong, I am a-ok with that, because this was just pure magic to me that someone would reach out and offer the very thing I was literally in the car driving to buy.)

Turn car around.

Go to pick up what I thought would be eggs and mandarins, but because this neighbor is a-freaking-mazing it was also 4 other big bags of pantry supplies – cake mixes, dry milk, canned goods…

Then to the grocery store.

To the produce department.

The most beautiful artwork Mother Nature has painted.  The yellows of the squashes.  The bright red peppers.  The light green of the celery next to the dark of the zucchini…  The perfect palette.

I filled my cart with 2 of each item. 

-          2 bags of clementines (decided to save the donated ones for the pantry, we rarely have fresh fruit to share)

-          2 containers of blueberries

-          2 mangoes

-          2 limes

-          2 lemons

-          2 cantaloupes

-          2 beautiful red pears

-          2 kiwis

-          2 papayas

-          And the requested and cilantro

At the check-out, I bagged one of each in separate bags.  Then I drove to the first home – the one that had requested the herbs. 

“Special delivery!” I said when the child opened the door. 

Next stop, another neighbor recently fired unjustly.  No answer at that one, but the cats looked at me from inside and wondered what I was up to as I left the items to be discovered.

I sent another message.  “Special delivery on the love seat outside your front door.”

The reply moments later – “Susan, I got it.  It moved me to tears.  Thank you.”

Fruit.

Fresh.  Juicy.  Vibrant.  Healthy.  Delicious.

And dignity.  Recently stripped away by an uncaring system, that will be so very hard to rebuild. 

But one pear at a time.

One apple.  One orange.

Produce.

Community.

Love.

Kindness Activist funds spent:  $35.48

And I am so grateful to have the opportunity to do it.