While the cashier counted the coins, I decided to talk to the boy. Me: That is a lot of fruit. Who are those for? Him: For my grandmother. She’s in the city hospital. Fruits are going to help her get better! Me: What’s your name, young man? Him: Tyler. Me: Tyler, that is an impressive amount of money you’ve saved up, but you are actually $14 short. But that’s alright. You go on and take these fruits to your grandma. Him: No, no. I don’t want to take any of it for free! Suddenly the boy’s eyes lit up and he said: “I’ve got an idea!”
Martha wasn’t just her grandson’s caregiver but also his best friend. Sweet Tyler thought of her a lot, and he missed her every day despite his father taking him to the hospital as often as possible.
That morning, Tyler was watching a video of him and his grandma on the porch. They were laughing together, and he loved seeing her laugh. But now that she was at the hospital and was at risk of contracting pneumonia, he knew he needed to take care of her just as she did when his mom and dad weren’t around.
But what could he possibly do, he wondered.
Then, he remembered his granny’s words that food was like medicine, and every illness was the body’s way of signaling its needs, so he decided to bring her some juicy oranges.
Thrilled by the idea, he reached to his piggy bank that was filled with coins of 50 cents he earned from his grandma for every riddle he got right. Yes, Tyler enjoyed solving his grandma’s riddles. It was his favorite part of hanging out with meemaw.
The following morning, he convinced his dad to make a quick stop at the grocery store on the way to the hospital. “Please, Dad, it’s for Grandma! It’s a surprise, I promise!” He got out of the car with his backpack and dashed into the store.
Once inside, he grabbed every food he could see. Kiwis, strawberries, oranges, you name it.
Heading to the register, he handed the cashier, who happened to be the store’s owner, his piggy bank. “Good morning! I’d like all these, please!” he said in excitement. “I’m paying with cash. There’s 42 dollars and 50 cents in here. Is that enough?”
The owner, Stella, was stunned by his polite behavior.
After counting the money, she told him that he was $14 short, but he could have all the fruits he wanted because Tyler shared with her he was taking them to his grandmas.
But Tyler didn’t want to get them for free. Instead, he told Stella that he had a riddle for her. If she got it right, he would go outside and grab the rest of the money from his dad, but if not, he was paying with only what he had.
Stella smiled and was all ears. Their conversation sparked interest at the rest of the customers who were waiting in line to pay for their groceries.
Tyler then asked, “What is always in front of us but can’t be seen?”
The small crowd murmured and offered guesses. “Air?” someone suggested. “Spectacles?” guessed another. Stella was stumped. Think, think, she told herself, but nothing seemed to fit. Finally, she said she was giving up and Tyler revealed the answer, “The answer is…the future!”
Stella smiled and handed him the bags of fruits and he walked out of the store and right into his dad’s car, eager to arrive to the hospital as soon as possible.
Seeing his grandma, he shared the story with her. She started laughing and said she was proud of him. His parents were secretly proud of their smart boy too.
As the family chatted, someone entered the room. It was Stella.
She apologized for interrupting them and said she was too impressed with Tyler’s kindness towards his grandmother that she wanted to match it by covering the medical expenses.
On top of it, she said that a bag of fruits would wait Tyler every week at her store.
Tyler’s mom and dad, who struggled to make ends meet, were beyond grateful, and his grandma placed her hands on her chest as though she was trying to calm her heart from excitement.
As she was leaving the hospital, Stella recalled her own grandmother telling her riddles and paying her 50 cents for each right answer. And the riddle Tyler told her, she already knew the answer, she just pretended she didn’t. It was the last riddle her own grandma ever asked her, and Stella still had the last 50 cents years after.
