Today, something found its way back to me and it immediately meant everything and also made my day.
Four years ago, I was given a soursop by a friend from high school. He knew I loved soursops so when we planned a meet up with him, he gifted me a soursop. It was such a kind gesture from him that after I got home and devoured the soursop, I couldn’t bring myself to throw the seeds away. It felt wasteful, almost careless, it was as if I was discarding a possibility. So I gave the seeds to my boyfriend at the time, asking him to plant them on his land. Life, as it often does, moved forward. We drfited, seasons changed, and that small act slipped out of my memory.
Well, until today, he texted me. So he had gone to visit the land, and his father showed him a tree. Not just any tree, but one grown from those very seeds I had handed over years ago without much thought. According him, he was confused but when he went down memory lane, he remembered that I had given him the seeds which he gave his dad to help him plant. Now it’s a big tree, taller than him he said and I could feel my heart swell. It hasn’t borne fruit yet, he told me, but it is growing, strong.
I don’t know why, but that news stirred something tender in me. I have been humbled about knowing that my small, almost insignificant act could root somewhere far from me and continue living without my presence. Something I had completely forgot about has been growing somewhere, reaching toward the sun and becoming more than it once was.
It just made me grin from ear to ear. Now I can boldy say that I have contributed to earth by planting a tree. Hehehe. Inasmuch as the tree doesn’t sit on my land, in a way, it still feels good that I contributed to its growth, even if only by chance.
Now this is a living reminder that not everything we touch disappears when we walk away. Some things stay and they grow. I’m really glad I didn’t throw those seeds away because somewhere right now, there is a tree, still becoming and full of promise.
And for reasons I can’t fully explain, that feels like joy.
