Berry Moon

It all started yesterday when we passed by the old lady eating the Berry Moon Yogurt. She was alone and looked very old. She ate the way very old people do, leaning closely into the yogurt cup, so focused on the food.  It’s a manner of eating that is specific to the elderly.

The girls had finished their Berry Moon some time before. They had eaten with the expansive abandon of all four year olds. Arms spread wide, chocolate adorning their happy smiles. With ease and grace, they scraped every drop of that sundae from the side of the cup then held it up to drink any sip that may have been missed. There was unabashed ecstasy in their enjoyment – no embarrassment or calorie worries, no concern about appearances. That will come when they get older. 

As they grow up they will divide their attention between the boy that takes them out for yogurt and the yummy flavor. Or they will be half focused on the taste and half on the passers by. They will be self aware to the point where they won’t be able to devote themselves so deeply to the enjoyment of the ice cream. But for now… Now, there is nothing but enjoyment.  

Then there was the old woman. She, too, was oblivious (seemingly) to anything but the ice cream. But, instead of getting some sort of vicarious enjoyment out of watching her devouring her ice cream, I saw emptiness – loneliness – as if this was all that was left for her. 

With single minded unsmiling dedication, she spooned the goop into her mouth. All alone, she had her event – ice cream at the mall on a hot day, by herself. 

The thought of this future terrifies me but it’s the future we all face. Even if we have families that love us dearly we venture into old age and, finally, death by ourselves. There WILL be moments in life when we’ll be eating the summer ice cream with no company, no dreams for the future, and no hopes for times to come. We will have only that moment, that cup of yogurt, our regrets, our memories and our personal frailties. 

With that in mind, the rest of the day was not exactly chipper.