by Danika Stonesoul
~oOo~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To my beautiful daughter,
I was eleven the year I took my first flight to New York to see my Aunt and Uncle. I thought they were rich because every time we drove by a Sonic, my Aunt would point and whine and my Uncle would do a U-turn in traffic to take her for a lime-aid.
I didn't really like the lime-aids back then... they were too sour for my taste, but my aunt would give me the cherry out of hers and I would sit in the back seat of the car and suck on it like it was candy, pulling the stem into my mouth and pushing it through my teeth with my tongue.
When I was older I could tie a knot in a cherry stem with just my tongue and my teeth (believe it or not, your Grandma taught me how).
I acquired a taste for limes when I was 21 the first time I had one in Mexico with some tequila. It wasn't like a lime-aid at all. I remember laughing as the men watched and waited for me to get tipsy, which, to their disappointment, didn't happen. I am dark haired and my eyes are so black you can't see my pupils. Most of them called me "Señorita" and a couple asked why I had married the "dirty gringo." Then they would say a few words in Spanish and cackle like hens. You'll understand when you are older, and this will, perhaps... make you laugh.
Limes are also good for cleaning. I once discovered that limes are great thrown in the garbage disposal after your 16 year-old son sends his fishing worms through it. At least I hope to god that was worms I tugged out of there so long ago like intestines...
Sometimes, I find myself at the grocery store in the produce section, handling the small fruits... rolling them in my palms and remembering my aunt as my uncle would do a sharp U-turn for her lime-aid. She told me once that when I found a man who would do U-turns in traffic for me over a lime, I would know that I had found the right man.
The thing is, relationships are about give and take and lots of compromise... and a whole lot of hard work. There really is no such thing as the "perfect" relationship, and maybe not even the "perfect" love. We as human beings are inherently flawed, and we bring all those flaws to the table when we try to make a love match, or a marriage, and sometimes that seems to magnify them to greater proportions and make problems that should be "fixable" seem almost insurmountable. It's always an uphill climb of course -- with any relationship, and sometimes you have to ask yourself, is the view at the top worth the risk of falling?
I have been incredibly lucky in some very important things with my life... despite many dark moments which often threatened to figuratively swallow me up.
And here is the lesson I learned, Sweetheart: Love's most important (and sometimes difficult) lesson, is that it is worth heartbreak to love someone who has helped to make you whole.
With all my love and hope for your future,
Mom
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