this daisy is part of the reception flowers i took home yesterday. and i chose this one because its colour bears resemblance to a ripened papaya fruit of which i have a story to tell for my friend louise.
@Weezilou
when the first mr. summerfield and i were still happily together, i became close to his friend and father confessor, father O'C. they grew up together as their irish immigrant parents lived in the same neighbourhood in chicago. father O'C had been the parish priest for one of the older churches in manila which was right in the middle of the red light district.
i was finishing my college degree at the time and the school was just a stone's throw from father O'C's parish church so i would pay a visit and attend mass at least once a week. one day, as the first mr. summerfield was in hospital, he asked me to deliver his church donation to father O'C. i didn't want to have so much cash on me going to school so i thought i'd drop by first thing in the morning (i did call first to make sure i'd be able to see the good father).
when i arrived, i was ushered in to the dining room where the good father O'C was having breakfast with the other priests and brothers of their mission, about a dozen of them. they all stood up as i greeted them 'good morning' and father O'C walked up to me to kiss me on the cheek and hugged me and introduced me as the first mr. summerfield's very young wife. laid out on the table were four big loaves of freshly baked bread, pitchers of cold milk, slabs of butter on silver containers, a large basket of fresh fruits and a large platter of sliced ham. i thought it was a rather ironic sight given that a life-sized statue of Jesus Christ seemed to be gazing at everyone as it hung on that huge cross.
in front of each of the men was a large platter with half a papaya on it. half a papaya for each person! i'll tell you how big our papayas used to be in manila at the time - about the length of a normal keyboard and about the same width. that is a huge serving each of those men was having!
they insisted i join them for breakfast and a few of them moved to accommodate an extra chair at the table. the maidservant, a local stocky lady, had a funny look in her eyes and father O'C had to explain to her who i was. in any case, i asked to have only a small slice of papaya. a couple of the older priests offered theirs to me as they haven't touched them yet, but i was promptly given a much smaller slice by the maid and she put a full spoon of condensed milk on it. a younger brother commented that it was a good thing i only wanted a small slice of the papaya as normally it is to be served only to them. father O'C then volunteered the information that they have to be fed a copious amount of papaya every day because it is an anaphrodisiac, essentially to control their 'worldly desires'. a much older priest added in a very playful tone "especially when we see a pretty young woman like you!" fortunately, i had by that time finished off my papaya and i looked at my watch to find i only have fifteen minutes to make it to the college.
i politely asked if i could leave them and turned my plate around (it's a local superstition when one has to leave while others are still eating). father O'C stood up and led me to the door where he hugged and kissed my cheek again. i thought i felt something as he did but i ignored it. then, the good father O'C remarked, "as you can see, the papaya is not doing its job!"
and that is my papaya story, louise.
still reading, folks? i thank you so much!
