From a tiny seed...

Today when I went in to fix Momma's lunch, I took her a bowl of cherries. I said to be sure to watch out for the pits.

As a small child, you believe everything your parents tell you. They have all the answers. Your faith in them is unquestioning.
When I was about 2 or 3 years old, I swallowed a watermelon seed. I began to imagine the worst would happen...that it would grow inside of me. Who knew what that would do to a little child? I went to Momma for comfort and for her to make it all better...it must have been a bad day or maybe just her wee-bit-on-the-wicked-side-humor, but her answer although satisfactory, left me a skeptical of her omnipotence...

...Years later, at Linda's dinner table, (we were eating watermelon? perhaps)-she was recounting how as a child, she had swallowed a seed and Arnold (her "brother"-she grew up with) told her it was going to grow inside of her. She prepared to die, she solemnly told us..she told her cat, Tiger, good-bye... (Everyone listened with empathy, and hardly a dry eye among us.)

I piped in, "Then why, when the same thing happened to me, did you tell me, 'Just keep your mouth shut, and the sunshine won't reach it.'!"

She quickly replied, "Well, you were very chatty."

Daddy laughed so hard, ...that big, loud burst of laughter when he was so amused! We all joined in. She couldn't believe she had said that to me.

So, today, she mentioned.."they used to tell us if you swallowed a seed, it would grow inside of you and kill you!"
I just smiled and nodded.