I often hear from my husband that Vaibhav and his mom can
strike a conversation with anyone, anywhere, anytime. Well, it’s true and I'm
so glad that today was one of those days. I live in one of the oldest
neighborhoods of Fremont and I admire a kitchen garden everyday twice a day on
my walk with Buzo. Today I got to meet the Lady with the green thumb behind it
and I could not resist but call out a Hi to her. She showed me her garden and
gave me her favorite recipe of Fava beans cooked the way her husband has liked
for the last 70 years. She's 88 years old and moved to Fremont in 1942 as a 16
year old and was carried over the threshold of this home by her husband a year
later and then he left after 3 months. She waited out the war years for her
young man to return from Belgium and Italy and he did. Her 4 kids were born here
in the house with the help of a midwife for there was no Lady Doctor in Fremont
and "women those days didn't make a big deal about giving birth" :)
There was 1 doc and 1 dentist in entire Fremont and no people hospital but a
big Vet Clinic! That was when Fremont Blvd was the Old Oakland Highway and
Fremont was known to be the biggest supplier of Cauliflowers in entire
California and dairies stretched all the way to Oakland. When Apricot and
Cherry Orchards stretched from Livermore to Milpitas and their perfume spread
over till San Jose. There used to be no “Organic” Farmers Markets because
everything was fertilized by the cows on the dairy farms and everyone lived on
or near a farm. She remembers giving her son 10C to get Vegetables and the
farmer would let him pick as many cauliflowers and tomatoes he could stuff into
his bag. Their kids all went to the same schools and played under the shades of
Avocado and Olive trees. Sounds so idyllic and simple. And then she invited me
in to meet her 90 year old husband who is fast declining. I’ve always gone for
4th of July parades just to cheer the war vets but to actually meet
one and to hold his hand took my breath away. That this frail old man defended
humanity at the darkest time of our history and came back to live a humble
happy and fruitful life filled me with emotions I cannot express. They are
truly the greatest generation that ever lived. She saw me for the first time
and invited me in, who does that these days? Inspite of all our wonderful devices
of communication or maybe because of them, we have lost the ability to connect.
We are in so much of a hurry to go wherever we have to be that we don’t stop
that extra second to let an early morning walker cross the road. There is such
a loss of community and empathy for fellow human beings that we care to know
nothing of the joys and sorrows of our next door neighbors. I’m so glad that I stopped
to chat. Their granddaughter thanked me for being courteous and spending time
with her grandparents as they get lonely very often now that their friends and
neighbors have passed away. Thank you for honoring me with your trust; this was
perhaps the best spent 15 minutes of my life. And yes, I’m invited for a Sunday
dinner when those Fava beans are ready to be harvested. Can’t wait.
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