The Delicious Fruits from My "Pitty Party"
Mar 21, 2026
This month marks five years since the neurological episode in Hawaii that changed the body I live in each day. Grief, frustration, discouragement, hopelessness, mourning, anger, despondency, and weariness have all made appearances on the stage of my soul in that time. So have encouragement, faith, tenacity, motivation, faith, support, optimism, hope, and fortitude.
This past couple years I have been learning to hold those polarities of life better and even find a still point in the middle where I can feel equanimity as I ebb and flow between both sides. It has been such a helpful way to give myself space to feel the waves of all the feelings while not getting carried off in the current.
Interestingly, when I thought about the upcoming anniversary earlier this month, I realized it didn't carry the weight of sadness it has in the past. I actually had the thought that I wanted to celebrate the growth I have felt this past year because of it. When I mentioned this desire to my friend Kendra, she suggested I make it a "Pitty Party" and celebrate the things that have been the "pits" as well as the wonderful "fruits" that have come because of it. I loved it!
So many friends came to celebrate with me, and we had a delightful time connecting and sharing in fruit-themed food and a cherry pit spitting contest for good measure. I felt an outpouring of love and support.
My favorite part was that we each blew up a balloon as our "fruit" and wrote on it the beautiful gifts or lessons that had come from our challenges. Some of the fruits were:
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New friends
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Grace
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Empathy
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Creation
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Empathy and willingness to sit in the discomfort of others
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My Voice
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How to surrender to the Lord
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I can expect miracles
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True appreciation and joy
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Compassion
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Perspective
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Patience
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How to be in a healthy happy relationship
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Trust the Lord
The party was more than two weeks ago, but these balloons still decorate the floor of my condo (except the one that got offered as tribute to my son's curiosity about what would happen if we put a balloon above a candle flame).
I practice crawling as one of my ongoing occupational therapy exercises. As I do laps around the family room and kitchen table, I see and bat at the multi-colored balloons while I read and reread the messages. It's like my friends are still there with me reminding me of their witnesses of the fruits that have come and will continue to come as we continue to work at navigating our challenges.
Some aspects of my experience are still the pits. No amount of positivity is going to change that. But at the party we talked about an important fact. Pits are actually seeds. And when planted and nurtured, those seeds grow fruit trees. And in time, those fruit trees produce a crop of fruit year after year.
Delicious fruits come when we choose to plant and nurture our pits! That is the magic of growth.
That perspective makes it worth it for me.
It has taken me five years to align my body, spirit, heart, and mind around that truth. It's yummy to me now.
It's worth celebrating!
