THE TOMATO LADY

One day while Susan and Lynne were playing in the backyard their mother called them inside. “Would you please go on an errand for me? I need you to go to my friend Tilley’s farm and pick up some tomatoes. She has grown the most glorious tomatoes in her garden”, their mom said.

So, Susan and Lynne set off to find where their mother’s friend lived. They got on their bicycles and rode down several blocks nearby. They had a map that their mother had drawn for them, with Tilley’s address printed on top. When they found the street, they were very confused. The street was very narrow, and at the end of the street was a very old building, an apartment house surrounded by a parking lot. This was the address, but none of the apartments seem to have balconies, or backyards. Lynne asked Susan “So, where is Tilley’s farm, Susan?” “I can’t imagine where this lady would grow tomatoes, Mom must have given us the wrong map, said Susan.”

They entered the buiding and climbed the creaky old stairs to the third floor. They knocked on the door marked 222, and a woman answered the door. She was a smiley lady wearing bright colored clothing and wearing a white apron with a bunch of tomatoes in the pocket. “Come in, come in girls, I have lots of tomatoes for you to take to your mother.” Their mother had called Tilley to let her know that they were coming.

The girls walked inside the tiny apartment. They looked around and Susan and Lynne were in shock. Right in the middle of this very large room was the most magnificent garden that they had ever seen. The old woman chuckled, “See my garden, it is very unusual, yes?” Susan spoke first, “Oh yes, I have never seen such large tomatoes. But how can you have a garden in your apartment?” Lynne was still amazed and she said, “How did you grow them here?”

The woman took a deep sigh and said “Well, a long time ago when I was a very young girl like you two, I dreamed of having a garden of my own. I decided that when I would have a big house with a large backyard I would have a garden. I waited and waited and I never did get that big house, nor did I have a backyard. I grew older and older and I was afraid that my health might fail before I ever got my garden. So, one day I got out of bed and decided to begin to garden right where I lived. I put burlap bags all over the floor and I covered it with many bags of dirt. I found lights that could transform my room into a greenhouse. I experimented and experimented and one day my garden began to bloom. Vegetables and some flowers, but these glorious tomatoes are my favorites. I took my tomatoes to the farmer’s market. Everyone was amazed. Little by little people began to know Tilley’s tomatoes and they started to call me the Tomato Lady.”

The girls smiled and fell in love with her as she told her story. The girls took the basket of tomatoes from the tomato lady. She bid them farewell and smiled as they walked towards the staircase. “Wait dear children, I have something else for you,” she said. She reached into her pocket and took out two little bags of tomato seeds. Then she said, “Dreams are just like these packets of seeds. They are not meant to stay inside but to be planted in order to bloom into glorious fruit.” Don’t wait until you are so old like me to plant your dreams…plant them today and you will enjoy the fruit soon. Begin today.”

When the girls came home they gave the basket of tomatoes to their mother. She thanked them for going on the errand for her and asked the girls about their adventure. Susan and Lynne went home that day with more than just a basket of glorious tomatoes and a packet of seeds. They went home with the inspiration to plant their dreams while they were young. Susan took the packets of tomato seeds and went in the backyard to get ready to plant them. Lynne went into the shed and got some gardening gloves and shovels for them to use. While they gardened they both dreamed of huge red tomatoes and thought about their dreams. They could hear the tomato lady’s voice say “Dreams are just like these packets of seeds. They are not meant to stay inside but to be planted in order to bloom into glorious fruit.”