Peaches and Memories for Lunch

Isn't it weird how an everyday object can illicit a sweet memory of something seemingly unrelated?! That's what happened to me when I chose to eat a peach for lunch today. As I washed and peeled my peach I immediately thought of Grandpa Adelman who in his lifetime had lovingly cared for, picked and peeled thousands of peaches from the huge peach trees growing in his backyard in Sunnyvale, CA.
That peach took me back to the first time I met Grandpa and Grandma Adelman when Scott and I were newly married. From the minute I walked into their home I felt so welcomed and so loved! I'm sure they must have had the San Francisco Giants game on tv; if the Giants were playing, they were watching! I loved listening as Scott and his grandparents would talk about the Giants and their current record or what kind of a season this player or that was having. I can still picture grandpa sitting in his easy chair next to the corner windows of the family room; remote control and the daily newspaper sitting on the tv tray nearby.
That peach took me back to the times Scott would quietly walk through their house each time we visited, soaking up thirty or forty years worth of memories. I loved listening when he would say, "I remember when....". Having grown up in the same home for twenty years, I could relate in my own way to the connection one feels to a home.
That peach took me back to grandma's pink and grey bathroom! Totally the lastest colors back in the 1950's when their home was built. I loved that bathroom because it reminded me of my Grandma Foltz's bathroom back in Iowa. Same colors and same sweet grandma smells! I hope Grandma Adelman doesn't mind if I admit to opening her linen closet just to take in that sweet smell of grandmas!
And, of course, that peach reminded me of Grandpa's delicious peaches! Peaches lovingly prepared each morning for breakfast and each evening as a topping for vanilla ice cream. I never noticed him preparing those peaches for us but they were always on the counter, sweet and juicy just waiting to be eaten by those he loved. And, I think that's what made those peaches sweeter than any I've had since...it was the love he sprinkled on top!