“Here,” my grandmother said as she cupped my left hand and took a tomato from the sill and put it in my right hand.
Then she sprinkled salt from a shaker in my cupped hand. She asked, “Want some pepper?” I shook my head, “No.”
“Bite your tomato and dip it in the salt”, she coached.
Amazing.
It tasted like their home on the farm smelled, of the earth, pure and sweet.
I went outside, sat on the stoop and ate my newfound treat in awe.
In week 20 of 52 Weeks of Gratefulness, I give thanks for a tomato and salt.
Something so simple is so profound.
It was like I could taste the entire farm: the sunshine and the rain, the dirt and the breeze, the sweat and the love that cultivated it.
My grandfather Percy Brown and my grandmother Sarah Brown built a home blanketed in love.
When you were there, it was at every turn and around every corner. Even the animals seemed to recognize it.
I have so many wonderful memories on that farm in Canton, Mississippi. There was great peace and so much love.
I have such a rich heritage.
I remember it every time I bite into a tomato.
I’m grateful.
#52WoG
Image copyright 2008 Daniel E. Johnson – crossroadone.com
