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Pandemic Journal: An Entry on Cut Fruit

By Dheepa R. Maturi 16 Comments

Pandemic Journal watermelon

When the boys left for college, I expected occasional phone calls, but mostly radio silence. To my surprise and delight, four-way text chatter populated the space between phone calls — some of it serious, but most consisting of jokes, photos, cat videos, and a commitment to send increasingly outrageous puns (pun-upmanship?).

Occasionally, they’d forward a post from a particular Facebook group, one good-naturedly dedicated to the humorous little absurdities of South Asian family life. Given that I, like my kids, grew up in the U.S., these posts reminded me more of my own parents’ actions than mine — but one caught me off guard:

If your mom doesn’t randomly bring you cut fruit, is she even your mom?

I laughed, recognizing myself instantly. While the boys were growing up, I’d routinely pop into the kitchen, chop up fruit, and take heaping bowls to their desks as they studied, or to the sofa as they relaxed and watched television. While I hadn’t known this was common across South Asian families, I certainly remembered my own mother doing the same for me, selecting the ripest, juiciest apples, oranges, mangoes, pears.

With the boys largely absent over the last two years, our fruit needs dwindled — a few apples and oranges, maybe a pear or two, were a sufficient week’s supply for the two of us. And now that they’ve returned, the countertop is overflowing again, and the fridge, burgeoning with Costco cartons of blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries.

Without thinking about it, I’ve resumed fruit duty. Now, though, I’m more conscious of what I didn’t fully realize before — that the deliveries were tiny moments for connection and encouragement. Sometimes, a window opened briefly to reveal a detail about challenges or struggles they faced — to be filed away for revisitation at the right time.

To be present in their daily lives once again is an unforeseen blessing. When they returned home suddenly in March, it seemed we all slipped backward in time. Once again, the house was brimming with conversation and laundry and people to be fed (pun-demonium?). Once again, the depletion of food — and the need to replenish it — was constant and unrelenting.

But this time, other than providing food and fruit, there’s little for me to do for them. The boys are on their own schedule — and specifically, on Pacific time to keep up with university classes and meetings in California. Our home thrums with activity almost 24 hours a day, as they wind down at three a.m., and we wake before seven. Throughout the afternoon and evening, I overhear snippets of Zoom conferences on physics formulas and machine-learning data sets, health care economics and Cambodian war crime tribunals.

They are navigating their own lives, and I’m grateful to witness their competence and resilience as the world turns upside-down. Over dinner, or later in the night over cards, we rove through pandemic news, as well as science, research, books, philanthropy. Sometimes we grieve together for all they are missing, all they have lost — graduations, milestones, friends, normalcy.

While we know matters are profoundly serious, the boys nevertheless remind us to play and laugh during this historic juncture (the pun-demic?). And as the weeks pass, I am realizing that time has not actually reversed, but rather, traced a figure eight.

Watching these two adults, so strong and confident and optimistic, I feel that I have become the uncertain one, the student. My writing journey still feels new to me, and I often question whether I’m gaining a foothold or making progress. They check in with me, press me about my goals for the week, ask why I’m puttering around the house instead of writing. When I become too self-critical, they reprimand me gently.

A few days ago, my younger son approached and set a bowl of cut pears on my desk. I looked up from my computer, a little disoriented, and saw his radiant smile. You’re doing great, Mama, he whispered, then slipped away.

Photo by Ralph Daily, Creative Commons license via Flickr. Post by Dheepa Maturi.

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Dheepa R. Maturi
Dheepa R. Maturi
Dheepa R. Maturi is a writer of poetry, essays, and fiction. As an aspiring optimist, she loves to explore themes like connection, hope, and environmental harmony. Dheepa's first novel, entitled 108, combines all of those themes into an eco-thriller. Dheepa's work has appeared in The Indianapolis Review, New York Quarterly, The Fourth River, and the book How to Write a Form Poem and more. Find her at www.DheepaRMaturi.com
Dheepa R. Maturi
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Comments

  1. Michelle Ortega says

    May 28, 2020 at 8:27 am

    What a precious full circle moment!! My daughter has been home since March (she lives in Brooklyn NY but was laid off) and it’s been a gift to have this time together. I cut her up a mango at the beginning of the week and left it for her as I headed into the office for a few hours. Last night, I came home to dinner she made. ❤️

    Reply
    • Dheepa Maturi says

      May 28, 2020 at 10:12 am

      Love that, Michelle Ortega! Never, never expected this extended time to interact with my kids as adults — and to introspect simultaneously! (And mmm, I’m thinking mangoes today!)

      Reply
    • Bethany R. says

      May 28, 2020 at 4:23 pm

      Aww, she made you dinner! How sweet, Michelle.

      Reply
      • Michelle Ortega says

        May 29, 2020 at 1:31 pm

        So yummy!! 🙂

        Reply
  2. Bethany R. says

    May 28, 2020 at 4:22 pm

    Oh, what a beautiful ending. And that circle-eight reference is perfect. (I just chopped up some Honeycrisp apples for my daughter to munch as she writes.)

    Reply
    • Dheepa Maturi says

      May 28, 2020 at 6:57 pm

      Nothing like Honeycrisps — I’ll put that on tomorrow’s fruit agenda! Thank you so much for reading, Bethany!

      Reply
  3. Sheryl Ciulla says

    May 29, 2020 at 1:28 pm

    I loved that story Dheepa! Those of us that have had adult children return home during the pandemic have certainly been given a priceless gift!

    Reply
    • Dheepa Maturi says

      May 29, 2020 at 2:33 pm

      Yes, indeed — so incredibly unexpected to have extended time with them. I feel like I’m getting to know them again!

      Reply
  4. Laurie Klein says

    May 29, 2020 at 2:12 pm

    Dheepa, I thoroughly relished this glimpse into your lives! I love the resumed role (and implied metaphor): Fruit Duty. And the figure eight image and the hope glinting up amid family life captures me, as well. So GLAD to be reading your words today!

    Reply
    • Dheepa Maturi says

      May 29, 2020 at 2:35 pm

      Grateful to you, Laurie, for reading and for your kind words! Lovely to hear from you, and I hope you are well & safe!

      Reply
  5. Kaki Garard says

    May 29, 2020 at 5:56 pm

    With a nine year old blessing, I am so grateful for the return of my two older children! Lifelong memories made as a group of three, simply by being present as a family. I’m so grateful.

    Reply
    • Dheepa Maturi says

      May 29, 2020 at 6:06 pm

      How wonderful, Kaki! Imagining your fivesome makes me smile!

      Reply
  6. Ivonne says

    May 30, 2020 at 4:22 am

    Beautiful, Dheepa, I love reading your work. Spending time with our kids at home has been such a priceless gift. I can absolutely relate even though mine haven’t flown yet, life is always so busy and full that it has been refreshing to enjoy the new slow. I relish (almost) every moment and all of the little things.

    Reply
    • Dheepa Maturi says

      May 30, 2020 at 8:43 am

      It’s wonderful to hear from you, Ivonne! I love your term, “the new slow” — I think we all needed this slow-down (without the difficult surrounding circumstances, of course). Parenting seems so accelerated these days, but without quiet moments, we don’t *live* while we’re living, if you know what I mean. Thank you so much for reading and commenting — it’s very much appreciated!

      Reply
  7. Ann Kroeker says

    June 1, 2020 at 12:38 pm

    Thank you for sharing the life and love and cut fruit in your bustling home, Dheepa.

    Reply
    • Dheepa Maturi says

      June 1, 2020 at 7:32 pm

      I appreciate your reading the essay, Ann! Thank you!

      Reply

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