The Little Box of Tomatoes
I had sent my niece, Janice a Happy Birthday email and at the end I added a line of what I thought were hearts but turned out to be tomatoes. When I realized it later I wrote her a story that it reminded me of. It was about my oldest brother (her father) and the family produce business we had years ago. I wrote to her.. Well, I guess it was okay because tomatoes were part of our family business years ago. I remember one time when they were loading our family produce truck in the far end of the driveway under the trees where it was shady at our house on Ellicott Street. I was a little thing about six years old. Your dad was calling out all the items to be loaded onto the truck. They had to be put on in the opposite order that they would be taken off at the different stores and restaurants. I wanted to help so bad but all of the items were things like huge crates of cabbage and sacks of potatoes that weighed fifty pounds apiece or more. But there was one little cardboard box of tomatoes that weighed only 10 lbs. It was about the size of a shoebox. I kept watching and waiting and listening for that little box to be called. I don't even think I blinked. I don't think your dad even knew that's what I was doing. Then my mother called me into the house for something. I wasn't gone but just ten minutes and I ran as fast as my little feet would carry me and when I got back the box was gone. It had been called and someone had loaded it onto the truck. I guess your dad sensed that I was let down because he said "What's wrong, Lynn? Are you alright?" I told him that I had been waiting for him to call for that little box so I could put it on the truck." Instead of him saying "Well, you can do it next time." He had one of the men climb up on the truck, find the little box of tomatoes and put it back where it had been before and THEN called it out as if it hadn't already been done. All the men stayed back and let me put it on the back of the truck which I could hardly reach. I was all smiles. Even being little, I knew that that was very nice of him but when you're older you realize what an extra special man he was. I had forgotten all about that story. I'm glad I accidentally sent you that line of tomatoes instead of hearts because I may have never thought of it again. I love you so much and I hope you had a wonderful birthday.

Lynn