#whitetwostoryhouse

[sharingorangeslices]

Sharing Orange Slices

I came up with the name Sharing Orange Slices when I was reading the now-famous poem The Orange by Wendy Cope. 

"At lunchtime I bought a huge orange- The size of it made us all laugh. I peeled it and shared it with Robert and Dave- They got quarters and I had a half.

And that orange, it made me so happy, As ordinary things often do Just lately. The shopping. A walk in the park.  This is peace and contentment. It's new. 

The rest of the day was quite easy.  I did all the jobs on my list  And enjoyed them and had some time over.  I love you. I'm glad I exist."

Before I read Cope's simple yet meaningful words, I never considered the impact of how something as simple as giving half of an orange to someone has the ability to be. I never realized how sharing an orange, or sharing a piece of myself to someone I love, could be healing. Sharing orange slices is giving someone else parts of yourself that you didn't even know existed. 

I wrote in my journal "In 15 years, I hope I'm living in a white two-story house with two cats and a dog. I hope one of the rooms has yellow ducks painted on the walls, in another I hope there's bright yellow flower's. I hope on Saturday's I sit in the backyard eating half of an orange. I hope I peel it carefully, pulling the all the white pieces off. I hope I save the other half for someone I love. I hope in 15 years I'll never have to eat an orange by myself." I still see myself in that backyard 15 years from now, and I still hope I don't eat the whole orange. 

But, it's not 15 years from now. Now, I don't have a white two-story house. I have one cat and no dogs. But I have a few people I trust to give the other half of my orange.

(Post also found on sharingorangeslices.weebly.com)