Stone Soup

 

November 14, 2019



“Go ahead and drop it in.” I watched in bewilderment as my classmate unloaded several large pebbles into the empty cauldron, which resounded with a cacophony of metallic clangs. I sat waiting my turn in line with my can of sweet corn amongst fellow second graders who held a smorgasbord of ingredients from barley to potatoes to rosemary sprigs. We were re-enacting “Stone Soup,” the childhood fable that teaches the value of community and contributing to a greater good (or as I realized as an adult - how to surreptitiously finagle a free meal like the protagonists did). In a way, the concept of making stone soup also applies to my development as a person.

When I moved to Colfax 23 years ago, I didn’t have any friends, spoke broken English and culturally didn’t fit in with my classmates. I was an empty vessel, thankfully one which eventually filled with the influences of many teachers, friends, mentors and family members.

Amongst them, Connie holds a special place as the original “stones in the pot,” someone who took extra time and effort to involve me in class, encourage me to make friends (sometimes drafting classmates to play with me at recess) and confidently told my parents that I was “just like any other kid.”

I eventually wrote about Connie and her annual Stone Soup story, amongst her many other lessons, as the topic for my Yale college application essay. While making stone soup did not lead to a culinary career, my affinity for completing her morning multiplication table quizzes and her frequent crafts projects did eventually lead to an undergraduate engineering degree, medical school training and a budding career as a general surgeon.

When I heard that she had passed, I had just finished in the operating room for the day. As a physician, this is something we face more often than most other professions. However, nothing truly prepared me for the loss of a close friend/mentor who I looked forward to seeing every time I visited Colfax, someone who knew me long before there was any inkling of my long term career.

My family still has several picture albums dedicated to that fateful year in second grade. While I cherish the photos of the class at the Palouse Empire Fair, my patchwork pumpkin painting and my miniature biplane constructed from lasagna noodles. It is Connie’s tireless energy, patience and love that I carry with me - together with her recipe for stone soup.

David Yu, M.D.

University of Texas at Houston

 

Reader Comments(0)

 
 

Our Family of Publications Includes:

Cheney Free Press
Ritzville Adams County Journal
Whitman County Gazette
Odessa Record
Franklin Connection
Davenport Times
Spokane Valley News Herald
Colfax Daily Bulletin

Powered by ROAR Online Publication Software from Lions Light Corporation
© Copyright 2024