Mum has always repeated to me that I didn’t eat enough fruit,
simply because I don’t like eating fruit at the end of a meal,
but I prefer to have it separately during the day.
When I was younger and still lived at my parents’ home
I felt overwhelmed and annoyed by that remark.
Now, when I go to visit them and I stay there for a few days
I feel moved and comforted to notice that mum still treats me as her little child
and constantly tries to make me eat more fruit.
Things change and from distance they take another perspective.
I like sitting at their kitchen table, where there is always a plate full of fruit
And I smile gently inside myself every time she keeps on repeating
“You never eat fruit, darling, do you want an orange? Do you want me to peel it for you?”
My mum is 83.