“When Daddy comes in, he carries you to bed. Is there anything you feel like you could eat, Pokey? Anything at all?
All you can imagine putting in your mouth is a cold plum, one with really tight skin on the outside but gum-shocking sweetness inside. And he and your mother discuss where he might find some this late in the season. Mother says hell I don’t know. Further north, I’d guess.
The next morning, you wake up in your bed and sit up. Mother says, Pete, I think she’s up. He hollers in, You ready for breakfast, Pokey. Then he comes in grinning, still in his work clothes from the night before. He’s holding a farm bushel. The plums he empties onto the bed river toward you through folds in the quilt. If you stacked them up, they’d fill the deepest bin at the Piggly Wiggly.
Damned if I didn’t get the urge to drive to Arkansas last night, he says.
Your mother stands behind him saying he’s pure USDA crazy.
Fort Smith, Arkansas. Found a roadside stand out there with a feller selling plums. And I says, Buddy, I got a little girl sick back in Texas. She’s got a hanker for plums and ain’t nothing else gonna do.
It’s when you sink your teeth into the plum that you make a promise. The skin is still warm from riding in the sun in Daddy’s truck, and the nectar runs down your chin.
And you snap out of it. Or are snapped out of it. Never again will you lay a hand against yourself, not so long as there are plums to eat and somebody-anybody-who gives enough of a damn to haul them to you. So long as you bear the least nibblet of love for any other creature in this dark world, though in love portions are never stingy. There are no smidgens or pinches, only rolling abundance. That’s how you acquire the resolution for survival that the coming years are about to demand. You don’t earn it. It’s given.”
excerpt from Cherry by Mary Karr, context being after a suicide attempt at age 13
Some context: Texas and Arkansas share a corner border. Now, Texas is FECKING HUGE and there are many, many parts of Texas that cannot visit Arkansas overnight, but there are parts where it’s no trouble at all.
However, those places of Texas that are close to Arkansas, do not include “close to Fort Smith, Arkansas.”
The closest Texas gets to Fort Smith is about 185 miles (about 300km), at “a little closer than Texarkana.” (Dallas, fwiw, is about 275 miles/450km from Fort Smith.)
So the dad in this story drove at least SEVEN HOURS round trip, to pick up a bushel of plums for his little girl, in the hope that some almost-out-of-season fruit would convince her to go on living.
the kids are calling them "stone fruits." they start off small—think cherries. then they're hooked and they need a quick fix, they get peaches, maybe some nectarines. it's all they can think about. before you know it, they're trying the really hard stuff—apricots, plums. once they taste a mango there's no going back.
i have understood so many things about online leftist culture by the fact that when i said "your local community has people you will morally and politically disagree with but you cannot lock them out of accessing any tangible service you’re organising" one of the tags responding said "this isn’t about proshippers in here you’re not welcome" like. folks. focus with me. some of us are homeless here.
There's a disconnect happening here because the primary function of social media for most casual users is to form a circle of friends around the usual things that friendships are built on: shared interests and lifestyles and ideas of what is important and what is unacceptable. When people are mainly doing leftism on social media, this encourages thinking of leftism as centered around establishing high-minded social clubs.
For anyone who still isn't getting it from someone who helps people IRL: There's a difference between whom you're helping to feed at the mealshare and whom you're choosing to hang out with for fun after the mealshare. You don't have to invite a hungry person with opinions you don't like to play board games with you, but you do have to help keep them from starving if you're serious about leftist organizing.
[Image ID: Tumblr reply with username blocked out reading: *volunteering at the soup kitchen, holding a bowl hesitantly to my chest* what do you think about age gaps in ships /End ID]
soccer player wailing on the pitch after being gently bumped: i’ve been BRUTALLY ATTACKED! treason!!!!! i simply cannot go on!!! oh! oh referee!!! where is penalty? jail! jail for opponent for One Thousand Years!!!!
hockey player after being leveled by a hit, teeth on the ice, blood in his eyes: why’d you blow the whistle?? i can finish my shift! just scoop up my teeth and drop the puck.
🥹How many times must my little girl be admitted to the intensive care unit before the world gives her a chance at life?
A 16-year-old girl has been admitted to the ICU twice due to kidney disease and needs €660 for urgent tests and treatment. What would your reaction be?
❤️ I would donate if I could.
🔁 I would share her story so it reaches someone who can help.
🙏 I would pray for her recovery
💔 I hope she finds someone to save her.
Sometimes, a life hinges on an amount that might seem small to some, but for our family, it represents the difference between continuing treatment and waiting for the condition to deteriorate
😭My daughter, Farah, has a severe renal tubular disorder that causes dangerously low potassium levels and blood acidity. The condition can lead to extreme weakness, muscle paralysis, cardiac complications, and is considered a form of chronic kidney failure. She has been admitted to the ICU twice after life-threatening cardiac episodes. Medical reports confirm that she urgently needs continuous treatment and close monitoring, but the medications and medical services she depends on are unavailable💔🥹
🆘Today, we urgently need €660 to cover:
🩺 Necessary medical tests and examinations.
📺 An imaging scan required to assess her condition.
💊 Healthcare services and necessary treatment.
Every day of delay increases the risk of her condition worsening, and we cannot bear these costs alone🥹💔
🙏 If you are able to donate, you are giving Farah a chance at treatment. If you cannot, sharing this appeal might reach someone who can help us. Thank you to everyone standing with us and praying for Farah’s recovery🌹
Note: if you would prefer to pay via paypal, you can do so here.
✅️Vetted by @gazavetters, my number verified on the list is ( #451 )✅️
Some families measure time in days; we, however, have come to measure it by our ability to secure the next step of our daughter’s treatment. There is nothing harder for any parent than watching their child in pain🙏🏻
🚨👩🏻🦼Happy Disability Pride Month! 🤍✨As we celebrate this special month, I am reaching out to your kind hearts as a mother. My beautiful little girl is a child with special needs—she is my ultimate source of pride and joy, fighting her battles every day with the sweetest smile.To help her get the medical care, therapies, and support she needs to thrive, we are raising funds.🌹🇵🇸🤍👩🏻🦼
anon hate economy is in shambles they're sending me cartoon criminal with a striped black and white shirt and burlap sack with a dollar sign on it ass anons now
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