THE FIRST RIPE TOMATO.
By Joanne Adams.
Pap had decided to start gardening and growing his own vegetables. He was always one to potter and try things out.
It was the spring of 2013 and pap had decided this was the year that he wanted to grow tomatoes and strawberries. His pride grew as his fruits grew.
One summers evening, around tea time, nan and i were watching tv in the living room ( most likely NCIS ) as pap wondered off to attend to his crops. Suddenly, we hear rustling in the kitchen and a clear," Don't come in !" from pap, nan looks at me and gives a gentle eye roll, I laugh and continue watching the tv. Moments later, in walks Pappy with the proudest, biggest smile I may have ever seen him grin.
With a tea towel carefully draped over his arm and a small plate carefully placed upon his hand, Pap stands in front of the tv, he has our full attention. He smiles as me and nan look at each other slowly and back to Pap. He slowly kneels, bows his head and we hear the words... " I present to you.... the first ripe tomato." On top of the plate, a single red, cherry tomato glints in the sunlight. Pap gently slices the tomato into three ( rather small ) pieces. He presents each of us with a slice and we share it, laughing and smiling.
Memoirs.
By Joanne Adams.
Secret pounds flipped into the pots at the arcades... Nan forever questioning how I ever managed to make 50 2p coins last for two hours on the machines.... Forever seeing the joy in the little things : spiders, flowers, grass, mice.... a gentle giant who cared for all things nature.
Being excited over a banana split shared at the beach ( with extra cream on top ).
Forever being proud to tell the story of how he lit up a fag whilst running the Great North Run.
His never ending, caring love for the communities that he built wherever he lived.
His stories from taxis.... did you know he once drove from Mablethorpe to Ireland without a map ?
His endless conversations about which motorway is best to get to anywhere in the UK ( I would never mention the fact I use Google maps and listen to his in-depth directions and tangent stories that he told )
Starting every conversation EVER with "Hello there..."
And of course... The First Ripe Tomato....
We need your consent to load the translations
We use a third-party service to translate the website content that may collect data about your activity. Please review the details in the privacy policy and accept the service to view the translations.