Madeleine Raspberries

Have your ever experienced a flavor or a scent… for that matter a taste or a texture… that transports you to a different time and place?

The term “madeleine” refers to something that triggers memories or nostalgia, and comes from the writings of Proust, but my point here is not etymology but raspberries…

When I was a little boy, around 5 years old, I would spend time at my Grandma Hillyer’s house and she had red raspberry briars that grew along her garden fence. When they would begin to bear fruit, she showed me that the raspberries started white in color as they formed, turned light pink as they ripened, and became red as they were ready to be picked.

“But the test of a ripe red raspberry,” Grandma added, “is that it comes right off the bush with the gentlest of a tug. If you have to pull harder than that, it isn’t quite ready even though it might look like it is.”

That tug test is so true. Today, I grow red raspberry bushes myself. When I pop a gently tugged, perfectly ripe raspberry into my mouth there is a wonderful combination of flavor, scent, texture, and juiciness that transports me across time and space to Grandma’s garden in Littleton, Illinois.

Looking back on my professional life, I can recount too many times when I have tugged too firmly on something that looked ripe to me, only to find it harder and less satisfying than I thought it would be. 

Perhaps one of the most difficult things to judge is when an opportunity takes just the gentlest of tugs and the result is the professional satisfaction we seek… may your timing be right and your tugs be light!