My diary.

I just moved to New York City. Unpacking was crazy. I would take a box one by one and turn it upside down on my bed and put everything away. Upon opening the third box, my old diary flew out. My little black book. Wow! I couldn’t believe it. My father bought me this for my eighth birthday. The same day I became vegan. He also gave me a check for $20,000 post dated for ten years. He said if I was still vegan in ten years I can cash it. I had forgotten on my eighteenth birthday I cashed the check and hid the money in my diary. Money was flying everywhere. Instead of continuing to unpack I took a stack of bills and took a walk and discovered a new vegan restaurant. Everything was new to me, it was New York City and my first day there! I bought twenty vegan cheese enchiladas. As I walked down the street I offered one to every door man I walked past. I said hello and mentioned I was new to the area. They gracefully accepted my vegan treat and were interesting in finding out more about veganism. Veganism isn’t a cult. We are just a group of people either for health or ethical reasons don’t want to eat animals. I was happy to be out, talking to people, sharing some food. My mother taught me food tastes better when you share it. I have always hated eating alone, and have always loved sharing food.

Upon arriving home I put away the rest of my box and dove deep into my black moleskin diary. It was my first one. Every year until the day my father died he bought me one. My own little black book. My first was my was my most precious. Not just because of the check my father wrote me, but because it was the year I went vegan. What made me go vegan you ask? I simply met one. I met a girl who was a few years older than me whose family was vegetarian. I didn’t even know that was possible. My father was a hunter. My mother thought how can anyone survive without meat? My mother was concerned. She studied nutrients and diet to make sure I was getting enough protein and eating properly. think my parents probably should have gone vegan with me. Both my parents had high cholesterol and my mother had heart disease. Maybe if they went vegan they would still be alive today. They died years ago when I was in my twenties. I’ll never forget their warmth, their love and compassion they had towards everyone. A very simple rule my father taught me was “hurt no one, at no time, for no reason.” I stand by this today. This is why I went vegan. I love my peaceful life. I buy myself my little black moleskin book every year to remind myself of the importance of a diary, the importance of love, and the importance of gifts to others. After buying one every year for myself, since I was eighteen I also buy one for all my friends. In it I write my father words. Than I write, “go vegan”, if you can’t, just think about it. I love you, signed, your little black book. Than I tuck in a hundred dollar bill.