Day 30: My Guest, Grace

Today's post is courtesy of my dear friend, Grace, who happens to have written a lovely food-related piece for her book club recently. They were reading This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women, and gave themselves an assignment to write their own "This I Believe" essay for their discussion. Grace and I took a walk today, and I asked for her thoughts on food, as I do everyone I meet these days. When she told me about her piece, I asked if she would read it to me over lunch. After she did, I knew I wanted her to be a guest blogger today.

A little about the author: Grace lives in San Diego with her husband, Carl, and daughter, Julianna, who is nine. She is a teacher and practitioner of massage and dance, and can fix whatever ails you during a one-hour coffee date through a combination of peaceful, soothing energy, and warm, sparkling humor. I have been honored to call her a friend for nearly 10 years now.

All in a Peach Tree

In a world such as ours it's hard to have faith
in love, goodness and peace
There are many negative distractions
and most of our media is dedicated to
distributing "the Bad News" they feel we need to be
informed of everyday

I ate a peach the other day that transformed all of that
in a most miraculous way
and gave birth to this essay

It may seem strange to think of the eating of a peach as
being transformational, but there is a story

My earliest memories are from
when I was four or five; my family (there were eight of us)
lived on Long Island in the burbs of New York City

I vaguely remember this particular part of our life there
but it is somewhat legendary that we had a peach tree in our back yard
This tree became big-time symbolic in our family
of happier, more peaceful times, before the volatility
erupted between my parents, before changing
addresses four times in three years, before leaving
our supportive extended family, before Kennedy
was assassinated

My mom often reminisces about the peach tree
and how she never wanted to move from that house,
her voice trailing off in sadness, but move we did.
Trouble and trauma followed along with much heartache,
and the dramatic and painful divorce of my parents.
For the next 30 years I became someone driven to heal
and transform all that pain.
I dedicated myself to a career in massage therapy,
helping others heal and hopefully healing myself in the process.
I now have a family of my own and a house in the burbs of San Diego.

Things do come full circle, eventually

The other day there were three peaches in a bowl next to the sink;
as I reached for one, my husband said
Those are from the tree in the back
A tree I insisted he plant several years ago, not even
consciously connecting it at all
to the one from my childhood.

As I took a bite, the juices running down my chin,
an ecstatic bliss followed.
I entered a sort of heaven on earth nirvana
that you can only relate to if you have experienced
that first bite of perfectly ripe fruit.

This peachy nirvana was made even better
by the knowledge that it was grown in my own backyard.
This is when enlightenment hit
this delightful peace of fruit, or fruit of peace
my peach guru
gave me an amazing gift
The knowledge and experience that
Life is perfect with all of its imperfections
We are truly loved to be on a planet
that offers such magnificence so freely and simply

And here I was full circle
with a peach tree in my backyard
reminding me that the healing is complete
and I am home.