What A Melon

Watermelon signifies one of my favorite summer memories - spending time with my dad in a wide array of different conversations. The juicy bites of a watermelon remind me of each juicy detail I was willing to share with the person I trusted most in the world, as well as the juicy bits of wisdom and humor he was willing to share with me.

Rick is the name of the man who chose to raise me and one of my half sisters. He was my stepfather, who became my dad. By the time we met I had undergone deep traumas and severe neglect. My inability to trust or relax was deeply set into place.

Food was a common experience in my life, once he became part of it. Family meals together, cooking together in the kitchen, homemade ice cream, long trips shopping at Sam’s and Safeway, as well as ordering through our Schwann’s delivery specialist.

We had a deep freeze full of freshly slaughtered beef from my Papaw’s ranch, an upright double-door freezer full of everything Schwann’s (and Sam’s) had as frozen options, and a large refrigerator/freezer upright unit full of our more fresh options, like vegetables from my other grandparents’ garden. The latter unit is where the watermelons were kept after we opened them.

In perfect dad form my dad had a special process for selecting the best watermelons every summer. He would drive 40 minutes to Rush Springs and purchase our primo produce full of seeds, bright red meat, and at least a liter of tasty juice. His hunter-gatherer instincts were flawless, and he regularly shared how he knew he was selecting the best watermelons Rush Springs had to offer.

“Listen to this”, he would say as he thumped the outside of the watermelon in the center of the rind. “Thwomp. Thwomp. Thwomp.” I remember how it seemed to have a jello interior where the sound could move freely inside it. “That’s how you know it’s ripe and ready.”

Sometimes when I ate a lot and my belly was really full, he would do the same thing to my belly and tell me I must’ve swallowed watermelon seeds and my belly was full of a ripe watermelon. he made me laugh every time, though to this day I’m still hesitant to swallow watermelon seeds. No one needs a watermelon growing inside their belly!

My dad would call me into our kitchen for the ceremonious splitting of our perfectly-proportioned melon. He seemed like the strongest dad in the world when he was able to carve longways through the rind. the sound of the watermelon opening caused me to hold my breath every time. There was a part of me who always wondered if this watermelon would be a dud. It never was.

Once he had successfully split open our watermelons and we could see the ripe red color of the fruit, as well as smell the sweetness, I would say, “what a melon!” My dad would smile his standard “Rick” smirk while he dusted a light amount of salt over one half of the split watermelon. We each would take a fork and dig into it with delight.

My shyness vanished around my dad, especially during watermelon time. I would talk about everything from confusion on how gravity was real to why I didn’t understand why people were mean to me all the time to who my latest crush was. He was the only person who accepted all of me and fully listened. He also had a salty-sweetness about him similar to the watermelons we are with salt.

When I had my daughter and we shopped for our first watermelon together, I was worried to take home our find and split open the rind, only to be disappointed I chose poorly. It turns out my dad taught me well! We feasted and visited over a delicious selection. She shared her thoughts and I tried to share wisdom and humor. To this day I’m able to select superior watermelons. Now my daughter with her husband and daughter get to do the same.

“What a melon” is a phrase I consider in my life’s journey as well. I realize watermelon is the perfect summer food, as it represents in my life all the juicy goodness life has to offer when we are brave enough to make a decision and dig into it. There’s so much vibrance and sweetness on the other side of those choices. Be bold. Break open that melon and dig into it!