Cherries

I've eaten cherries for as long as I can remember....maraschino cherries, that is! That's the only cherry I recall until I was 30.  Then one summer day when Kody Bud and I were living with him, Pa brought home a bag of cherries from HEB.  He sucked on them like they were candy and would spit the pits into his hand until it was too full to hold anymore, which grossed me out!  I finally gave in a tasted them and they were good!  I didn't go crazy though, just enjoyed a few now and then.  BUT... this summer and last... I can't get enough of them.  It's like a prego craving!!!!! I dreamed about them all winter long and the first time I saw them in the store weeks ago, I squealed like a girl.  And you guessed it, I eat them by the handfuls!!

I don't know if I believe in ghosts or not.  I saw one as a kid and no one believed me.  But the grownup christian in me says they're not real.  Not in a BOO, ghostly way anyway. Even if they aren't, i still find it weird that my insatiable craving for cherries presented itself only the first summer that Daddy was gone. I never made that connection until today.

Today I bought another bag of cherries.  Their section in the grocery store is getting smaller and I know the season will be gone soon.  I will miss them so when they are gone.  But for now I'm going to savor each and every one.  Because when I'm eating cherries, my daddy isn't laboring over the scorching concrete. He isn't scolding me or telling me how I could have done so many things better. He isn't looking at me with those lost eyes trapped in his failing mind.  He's sitting at the kitchen bar with a fist full of pits, Kody Bud is climbing the tree in the back yard and all is well.

So if you have never tried fresh cherries you better go and get a bag.  Sit down and enjoy them with a loved one.... you never know when they will be gone.