avocados (lyn)

I was 26 and living in Chicago when I married Tim.  We were nothing alike.   While I was dark haired and Jewish, he was light haired and Christian.  While I grew up in the Northeast, he hailed from the Midwest (Indiana to be exact).  He was six years older than I, handsome, smart, gentle, and forgiving.  He loved me unconditionally, but I was too immature to appreciate him.

In 1979 I wrote in my diary that one of the things that concerned me about Tim was his lack of drive.   A few years ago a mutual friend of ours called to tell me that Tim was on the cover of Worth Magazine.  And In 2007, Barrons ranked him fifth in its inaugural listing of the "Top 100 Independent Financial Advisors" in the U.S.

Tim is now wildly successful, and though I no longer keep in touch with him (he is married and lives in San Francisco), I sometimes think of him, and what my life would have been like had I decided not to leave him after less than two years of marriage.  But I have no regrets.  Had I stayed married, I would never have ended up on the east coast, meeting Eric, and having my glorious son. 

Tim taught me a lot about life.  He inspired me to go on to business school and get my MBA.  He encouraged tolerance, as Tim could and did appreciate so many different types of people.  He pushed me to expand my views, as his perspective was a global one.  And he introduced me to avocados.

I grew up in a home where my mom cooked dinner almost every night.  And though I remember her stuffed veal (which we still love), her secret stuffing recipe with frosted flakes, her meat loaves and chickens, and her salads with every meal, I never remember any avocados ever being in her kitchen.

Since 1976, when I first met Tim, I’ve probably eaten thousands of trees worth of avocados.  Until recently, I’d include them in every salad, on every sandwich, as a main course stuffed with lobster or tuna, on a hamburger, as a dip, or as a side by itself with a touch of oil and balsamic.  I never was without an avocado in my home.

Studies have shown that avocados are one of the world’s healthiest fruits.  They’ve been effective in lowering cholesterol and regulating blood pressure. 

But I just can’t get pass the fact that about 75% of an avocado’s calories comes from fat.  Maybe it would have been better if Tim had introduced me to kumquats.  Those were also never in my mother's kitchen.