Hi, my name is Stephanie. . .
and I am a fruitaholic.
Yes, it's true. I am addicted to fresh fruit. I eat at least three servings a day, more if I can get it. I will eat dried fruit. If I'm desperate, I will even eat commercial applesauce. I have (and here I blush with shame) eaten . . . canned fruit. Embarrassing, but true. If I don't have a peice of fruit or can't see one saved for my next meal, I start to feel sort of panicky, anxious, the way I remember Popop getting when his cigarette supply was running low.
What brought me to the point of admitting my powerlessness over my addiction? Last Sunday, I awoke to a house with no fruit in it -- entirely my fault since I do the majority of the grocery shopping. It was 7 am and I had to be somewhere by 8:15. It was dark out and only 44 degrees. I went outside in my bathrobe and was picking raspberries in the dark. (I will pause here for a moment while you think about the implications of picking raspberries by feel.)
I knew I had hit bottom and needed help. I mean, eating ants just to get to the raspberries was bad enough, but felt like an isolated incident, even though it had happened more than once.
But where to turn for help? Surely, I am the only person in the world afflicted with this particular addiction. I will go and ponder this question while I eat my breakfast. Just cereal, no raspberries today. Anyway, I already ate my pear.
Comments
Frequently, these addictions are hereditary.
I think I inherited, and as I am in no way unwilling to completely renounce fruit and become a recovering fruitaholic, I must accept my addiction.
In fact, I embrace it. Though I must admit, I've never gone to the point of picking ant-infested raspberries in the dark in 44 degree weather.
Wow, it's already that cold? It won't get that way here for almost two months! So, whatever clothes you're wearing in this weather is what you'll need for Haifa in January (just add near-constant rain into the mix.) :-)
Posted by: Mara | October 6, 2004 8:38 AM
I suspect I have embrased it, but how do I recover? What does recovery look like? Limiting my fruit to 3 a day? Or just eating what ever fruit is lying in the path and accepting my powerlessness over the urge?
Posted by: Nannie | October 6, 2004 9:36 AM
no no maman, just embrace it and go on. love that you have a fruit addiction and live life to the fullest. fruit is good for you. if you asked Abdu'l'Baha he'd probably tell you that in Iran, the old men sit and eat so much fruit every day that the juice drips from their beards and their hands are permanently stained the color of berries and they always have nectarine stuck in their teeth. then he would say, 'you look a little pale, you should probably take your iron suppliment.'
Posted by: Mendon | October 6, 2004 11:25 AM
by the way, kristen said, 'i really miss your maman' to me (over and over). I miss you too but i think i'm beginning to understand why she misses you.
muy mucho
love
Posted by: Mendon | October 6, 2004 11:27 AM
Still taking the damn iron supplement and nectartines get stuck in my teeth too. More than any other fruit. Floss is good.
Posted by: Nannie | October 6, 2004 11:28 AM
Why does Kristen miss me? Elaborate. I watched the Jon Anderson video the other day (except it was really a DVD). Gloria swears that Kristen is clearly visible throughout the first song and I don't feel so sure. Can you two answer this for me?
Mara, it is only that cold at night and before the sun comes up. During the day it is in the upper fifties and low (very low) sixties. And nice and dry. You need one layer extra, but not much more. And if you aren't outside too long, you can get away with shirt sleeves. It is really quite pleasant.
Posted by: Nannie | October 6, 2004 11:31 AM
It's cooler here, too actually. We don't sleep with the fan on and the window open anymore.
[kinda' polluted here, so I prefer to sleep w/ the window closed]
Posted by: Mara | October 6, 2004 12:45 PM
Ma,
Fruit is natural, fruit is good. Not everybody eats it, but everybody should!
Ha, ha, ha...I'm on George Michaels kick and I just couln't resist:)
Posted by: Rae | October 8, 2004 11:52 AM
Hey, I love it. I think it is funny that everyone is trying to reassure me. Y'all did get that it was a spoof, no?
Posted by: Nannie | October 8, 2004 11:57 AM
Yep!
Posted by: Rae | October 8, 2004 4:17 PM
I spoofed a kid - one of my 6th graders- with the 'your arms are longer than mine' bit. He played along so well that I had to check that he knew I was joking; then he really let me have it for thinking he believed me!
Posted by: Rae | October 8, 2004 4:19 PM
I guess I just have to embrace my fruitiness!
Posted by: Nannie | October 18, 2004 10:00 PM