making lemons

  These quarantine days have not been easy for anyone. The world has lived such a unique and stressful time with a lot of deaths, doubts and fear because of this terrible Coronavirus. To make this time even worse, we have a media system really interested in selling news anyway. Therefore, it is very important to find out some ways to be less stressed, such as praying as much as possible, meditating, practicing exercise, gardening and other things that make you feel better. I have already done most of these, but gardening is the one that literally started in this quarantine time.

   My first inspiration to garden comes from the time when I got into a very stressful situation. The result of that busy life was an inflammation of the lining of my stomach (called gastritis) that made me suffer with throat ulcers, stomach pain and nausea for one and a half years. When I started to feel bad with those problems,  I went to my doctor and I did my first endoscopy, the result was just gastritis. The doctor prescribed expensive medicines, and after six months I didn't feel good yet, so I had another endoscopy and I took more medicine and I still felt bad, now I had chronic gastritis . Six months later, I did the third endoscopy, and I was worse than ever. The doctor asked me: “What happened to you? Now you have esophagitis, gastritis and duodenitis!”

    I had the third endoscopy early in the morning. In the afternoon, I went to work in my cafeteria, and one customer asked what was happening to me too. I told him. He asked me if I had ulcers in my stomach, and I said that I did not have ulcers in my stomach. I just had ulcers in my mouth and in my throat. So he said that I could use the same recipe he used  to be  healed of the same problem.

   The recipe was to drink pure juice of two lemons before going to bed and also in the morning on an  empty stomach (by fasting) for two or three weeks, and after feeling better, I should drink the juice of just one lemon every morning . He also said that I  should drink the juice with a straw not to damage my teeth. So, I started to drink that sour and strong pure lemon juice as my customer taught me. It was not a big deal! I was suffering a lot with stomach pains, vomit sensation and worse, I also could not inhale the air through my mouth because I had a bunch of ulcers in my throat. Everything I desired at that moment was not to feel those terrible sensations and be able to live and eat as a normal person! 

    From that day on I also made a great effort to avoid eating any other acidic fruits, sodas, ice cream, white bread, canned food,  milk, coffee, chocolate, sugar and oily food. Therefore, after drinking pure juice of two lemons with straw in the morning and at night with a straw and following a more strict diet, I got better, so I went to do my fourth and last endoscopy. I was totally healed.  Thank God!!!    
Nowadays I do not have gastritis anymore, but I still have gastric reflux in the mornings (this happens when the gastric acid comes up to your mouth and makes you cough ), so I need to drink pure lemon juice every day to avoid this annoying cough and consequently I have new lemon seeds every day.

    One more reason that has made me plant lemon trees is one story that I heard from an aunt of mine about people in Europe who used to spread fruit seeds along the side of the road to create a more green and delicious world. This story has made me think that I also could do something else with my lemon seeds. This has been in my mind but my busy life did not allow me till quarantine time, so I bought  some beautiful and colored flowers to plant in the garden in front of my house and I also decided to plant my lemon seeds in the pots that were from the flowers and I am growing them in my backyard.     

   Now my baby lemon trees have become my new passion, and I want to give them to my neighbors, friends and to everyone who comes to visit my house. Therefore, in order to put away negative sensations and fears that this terrible coronavirus has brought to most people around the world, I would recommend everybody  to discover what can bring joy for each one and makes it happens. 

nara rodrigues milfont