Three dollars for the memories. That's what I paid to get this handful of guavas today. They are not my favorite fruit, but I ate so much of them in my childhood, they bring me much good memories that warm my heart. My father who was a doctor with a farmer/gardener heart planted all sorts of fruit trees all around and back of our house. There were three huge guava trees that grew both vertically and horizontally. The branches were thick enough that we could play TAG among them as well as pretend houseplay. The guava trees bore so much fruit in their season so that we had an endless supply of guava jelly, and fresh fruit. We had such abundance of the guavas that a ton of them fell to the ground and they would be gathered and given to the pigs to eat. I always had a problem with the seeds getting in between my teeth and I dreaded chronic constipation beause of it. (and they say that is because I eat the fruit, seeds and all!) It was my ever-ready snack. These guavas did not have a uniform size. They grew as big as my fist to as big as a grapefruit. (the ones pictured below are too small in comparison to my father's guavas. My best friend and I in (elementary school) would sometimes come home during lunch time, hurriedly pick some guavas and sell them to our classmates for 10 centavos each. I know those humongous guava trees gave me a lot of reason to be outside playing (among its branches). Sadly, the trees died not long after my father passed away. The sight, taste and thoughts of guavas will always warm my heart. Three dollars for a handful of guavas to stroll down memory lane is not bad at all...
