If I had to pick what cartoon character to be I’d choose Strawberry Shortcake (without the big poofy hat, of course) I like berries! I’ve always liked them, now I just appreciate them more.
I remember growing up and going berry picking with my Dad. We picked strawberries in a big field on Sharon Valley road and we picked black raspberries in the woods near our house. I say we but what I mean to say is he…he picked. I think I spent the time eating berries, complaining about the heat and whining about the stickers. After today I have a new appreciation for berries and my Dad.
I went in the back yard to throw a cantaloupe shell into the woods (that’s country livin’ for ya). At first glance I saw just green.
Once I was closer to the woods something caught my eye…Can you see them? Berries!
I picked a berry, blew air in the inside of it (this is done to make sure there ain’t no bugs in the berry) and gave it to Margie, just like my Dad used to do for me.
I picked one for myself and after I finished the second one, I promptly went inside for a basket and tennis shoes.
I started out thinking I’d get a few berries. After a few minutes of picking I started to see more and more berries. Then I started to think of jelly, jams, and cobbler…
After three hours of picking I got 9 cups of berries! I wasn’t sure what to do with them all. I didn’t want to let them spoil (as was my custom), I’d worked too hard. And I didn’t want to experiment with these. I could experiment on the frozen, store bought kind! I decided to take 5 cups to my Aunt (my Dad used to do that too). She’d given me some of her famous home made macaroni salad on Monday so she popped into my mind. I offered some to my sister but she encouraged me to make something instead…I’m going to try to make jelly with what I have left.
I went to a meeting and on the way home I stopped at my sister’s house to get the kids. She said that my Aunt wanted me to stop by on the way up the road. Our minds raced! Why did she want us to stop? We hoped it would be, we thought about what it might be; more macaroni salad, scalloped potatos, lost mail, or lost dog. We decided not to get our hopes up, but we knew! We got there and it was what we hoped for, Cobbler! She made two cobblers with the berries. One for her and one for us. And it was still warm.
Oh, my dear Auntie, how I love thee! Thank you! One day, I’m going to learn how to make this!
I was taken back to childhood and ate half of mine with some cold milk. And the kids were introduced to summer cobbler. It makes me feel good to think that we created good memories today. After 4 years of bad memories we are starting to live and create happy memories that will last a lifetime.
I think God put a lot of thought into creation. He made these berries so good. But they taught me a few things today.
1. In order to enjoy the cobbler you have to pay the piper. I would’ve never enjoyed this wonderful treat without hard work…it was painful too, I have a ton of scratches. A small price to pay for this cobbler! Sometimes life hurts but that doesn’t mean I should give up. I just have to keep on a pickin’ thru.
2. Lots of little things can create something wonderful. Just like in life. It’s not one big thing that creates the sweetest life, it’s all the little things along the way.
3. One day at a time. When I was picking the berries I had to be careful not to go too fast. If I tried to pick them three at a time one of them would fall into the thicket and be lost. I had to pick them one at a time. I have to take one day at a time and I can’t expect my life to instantly be better because I went to treatment. I have to take it one day at a time and I’m told that one day in the future I’ll look at my life and be amazed.
Recovery Cobbler…it’s what on the menu tonight.
