Revive Cafe

This is a chance for health care workers to weigh in on racial equity. Please participate and share.

Fresno Bee Op Ed for Valley Health Care Providers Dear Valley Healthcare Provider: During these tumultuous times, we find ourselves with an opportunity of a lifetime to make concrete improvements in the lives of those we serve as health care providers of the Central Valley. It is no secret that the health care system is in a major need for an overh...

My mother died Saturday March 11, 2017. My brother texted that mom was in the hospital for dialysis in India where my parents vacation in the winters to escape the cold of Toronto, Canada. I applied for an e-visa that night, Friday, I recalled my trip to India thirteen years ago wherein my mother was hospitalized for two weeks and my father slept on the thin, hard, wood bench, never leaving her side. No meals or even sheets were provided. I took care of them then and I wanted to do so again now.

I called Dad Saturday morning to tell him I'd be flying out Sunday if I got my visa by email that day or Monday when I could go to the consulate in San Francisco to get an emergency visa. My dad said "Thayree mummy pooree vee hogaeyee" (Your mom is already finished). As my heart broke and the sobs escaped in a sudden burst, he simply said "foon rukday" (put the phone down".

My brother flew to India Saturday after securing an emergency visa at the Toronto consulate that was open until noon. I flew to India on Sunday after receiving mine by email Saturday night. We were to return April 1.

I feel transformed by my three weeks there. Unlike previous visits where I learned about wedding rituals from my mom, this time, my Dad, brother, and I learned about Indian cremation rituals for my mom. Unspeakable grief and concern for her and each other wove the three of us into a united braid of love. I stood outside the glass wall at the airport gate when they were boarding, i was separated from my brother and Dad, the only elder left in our family. My aunts, uncles, grandparents and forefathers have all returned to the dirt. I cried silently and unabashedly at the pain of separation.

As I waited another three and a half hours for my flight to depart and the ensuing fifteen hour flight to San Francisco, I read the book I recently authored "A Story of Love". It seemed plain that i was inspired to write it to preserve the legacy and love of my parents in the autobiographical account of my life. I cried and laughed as I relived the memories.

"There is no great loss without some small gain" said Ma in Little House on the Prairie and I tried to find the small gain in my loss now that I was separated by three thousand miles from my biological family. When I opened Facebook today for the first time in three weeks, I read Tom Sims review of my book in Kings River Life and I found that gain. I had wondered if anyone would benefit from the tale I found difficult but necessary to write. Tom got it! A piece of my mother lived on inside of him.

Mark and I are preparing to plant the Musk Melon, Yellow Watermelon, Okra, Squash and other seeds I brought from India. I want desperately and deeply to embody the belief that my mom touted: True Love for others is expressed in a meal you prepare from ingredients you grew with your own hands. I'm sure the plants will be watered by my tears and nurtured by the love of my hands in the coming months. I look forward to sharing them with those I love in wonderful creations or fresh from the field when people hire me as a personal chef in Fresno as they did in Santa Barbara.

Until the summer brings heat, sweet fruits and the Organic Stone Fruit Jubilee that I volunteer to put on, I hope you read Tom's review and meet my mother the "Matriarch" and my father the "Apprentice" through the pages of my book. I'm confident that you will be as moved by their lessons of love and life as I am.

May we all take the time to read and write the stories of our life in an effort to promote love.

http://kingsriverlife.com/03/18/a-story-of-love-by-tirath-hamilton/

A Story of Love By Tirath Hamilton: Review/Giveaway by Tom SimsTara Hamilton has written another volume from her heart. The first was Cook, Grow, Love where she unfolded a legacy of sharing love through food that ultimately led her to become a chef and a farmer as well as a “farmacist,” and local food advocate in the Fresno area.

Come one, come all to kick off Summer next Saturday June 20th from 5:00-8:30 p.m. Recorded the morning show for Great Day KMPH FOX 26 for Thursday June 18th, tune in to get a preview of what to expect at the Organic Stone Fruit Jubilee this year. Shade cover throughout! Stone fruit pies, lemonades, Japanese tea ceremony, free farm tours, kids craft corner etc. Kids ask me every year when it's time and the time is now! Don't know if we will do the jubilee in this format again so visit this historic event dedicated to the memory of Rosemary Nightingale. Bryce Loewen did a bang up job on his farm interview so taste the sweetness that Blossom Bluffs boasts.