Essay 6

Melissa Lovell


Become the Strawberry

I have always had a thing for fruits. The one fruit that I can never get enough of is strawberries. They are just so juicy and sweet. The day that I had my first strawberry was one of the best days of my life. My grandfather has been growing strawberries for about 20 years. He has always had a small patch growing in the backyard. My great grandfather also grew strawberries, so I guess that you could say that I was destined to love strawberries. I have to say that the best strawberries that I have ever had in my life are the ones that are from my grandfather’s patch in the backyard. I even did a taste test for a project at school once. There was just something about the homegrown strawberries that tasted different. They seemed to be juicier. They are not as big as the ones that you get from the store, but they are just as red and just as sweet. Most of my childhood memories have something to do with strawberries. The first memory came when I was in elementary school.

When I was in elementary school my parents decided that they were going to take my sister and me to the Strawberry Festival in Humboldt Tennessee. My grandfather was born there and my great-grandfather lived there at the time. Neither my sister not I knew what we were going to be experiencing once we got there, but we still could not wait. The whole way up there I was so excited. I mean they dedicated a whole festival to strawberries. What could be better? The morning of the festival we got to the street where the parade was going to be happening early. We set up our lawn chairs and then sat and waited. The parade began and I was so happy. Everyone was in something that was a strawberry or at least resembled one. They had a Strawberry Queen and she had a court with her on the float. They had on dresses that had strawberry print on them. Some floats just had people dressed in strawberry costumes. Some people were even wearing strawberry hats. There was something that represented a strawberry on every float and every person on the float. The parade lasted for a few hours and they were the happiest hours of my life. The people on the floats threw candy at us as they rode by. All the candy was strawberry flavored. After the parade my parents bought me a shirt that had a huge strawberry on it. I wore that shirt all the time and finally my mother had to throw it away. Then in high school I experienced my second favorite experience with strawberries.

About two years ago my parents took my sister and me to visit my dad’s parents in Huntsville. My sister and I though that we were just going to see them and visit with other family members. When we got there my grandmother told me that we were going to go out and pick some strawberries and then we were going to make some strawberry jam. Now I love strawberries and homemade strawberry jam is right below my love for strawberries. I had so much fun picking the strawberries out of my grandfather’s garden. My grandmother made my sister and me put on some of her old aprons and we walked out into the backyard to the strawberry patch. Once we were in the strawberry patch, we were told to pick the strawberries that looked good and had no rotten spots. Once we had picked what seemed to be like a million strawberries, my grandmother told us we could stop and that we had enough. When we got inside we had to wash the strawberries. Now my grandmother had a certain way that she wanted them to be washed. We had to put the strawberries in the sink and fill the sink up with water. Then we had to push the strawberries through the water. Then we had to repeat those steps again. I ended up washing the strawberries about 5 times. Once they were washed we split them into two groups. One group was for the jam. The other group was for us to eat. Then I had to take the green leaves and stems off the top of the strawberries that were for the jam. Then I got to mash the strawberries to make the jam with. The other half we cut into small pieces and either ate them right then or we put them in a bowl and added some sugar. Then we continued to make the strawberry jam. Now my sister and I didn’t really help make the jam as much as we just watched my grandmother make it. The time spent with my grandmother has left me with many memories and fun times. I do remember eating the other strawberries and feeling like the luckiest kid in the world. I did have one experience that made me rethink my intense love for strawberries.

I can only remember one time when I did not want to eat any strawberries. My mom used to make me breakfast before I went to school every morning. One morning after we had bought some strawberries, my mom decided that she was going to cut some up and give them to me and my sister to eat for breakfast. Now I love sugar on my strawberries, I mean they are really sweet without the sugar but they are ever better with the sugar. So I come downstairs for my breakfast, and I start eating the toast and eggs that my mother had prepared for me. Then I move on to the strawberries once everything else is gone. I always save the best for last. I took one bit and spit it right back out. They tasted so nasty. I told my mom that she had bought really bad strawberries. She said that she had tried them right after she cut them and that they were really good. I told her that she needed to try them because they were everything but good. She took a bite and had the same reaction that I had. She was so confused as to how they had managed to taste so good a few minutes before and then get to taste so bad. She was thinking long and hard until she started to laugh. My sister and I were so confused, I mean we did not say anything funny and neither had my mother. I also didn’t find it funny that my mother had given me bad strawberries. Then my mom told us why the strawberries had tasted so bad. She had accidentally added salt to them instead of sugar. My mom felt bad about make such a horrible mistake that she cut up new strawberries for us to eat. Now we always double-check my mom when she has strawberries and she is making something with them.

Whenever I go to a buffet or a table or just to the refrigerator at home I look for strawberries. My friends always find it weird that I would get just a plate of strawberries if I could. I mean I want strawberries on my wedding cake and some just there for people to eat. They are the one food that I could never get tried of eating. I have to say I think that I may be slightly obsessed with them. I am surprised that I have not turned into a strawberry because I eat them so dang much. I mean I could be like that girl from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory that turns into a blueberry cause she liked them so much. I even think that I resemble a strawberry a little bit. I get kind of red in the cheeks sometimes and strawberries are red. So if I was going to be a food, I think that I would choose to be a strawberry. They mean so much to me.