I AM the Vine
Jun 28, 2026 · 26 min · 11 segments
- Speakers
- ShaneHost
Jun 28, 2026 · 26 min · 11 segments
As I was growing up, I lived in a concrete apartment block.
Gardening was never part of my life.
Everything around me was concrete.
But between my apartment block to the one next door, there was a shared courtyard.
It's like today's courtyard in the Sugar Tree's apartment, if you have visited there.
So there is a small pasture of green in the center.
But some of my neighbors, they loved gardening, so they would plant some flowers, some little plants, and even some fruit trees there.
But sometimes those fruits mysteriously disappeared.
some kids from the apartments pick it.
My parents believed those kids should be disciplined, but I disagreed because I was one of them.
And one day, one of our neighbors planted a grapevine.
Not very big, but very healthy, very beautiful.
And the problem is the owner was a rather grumpy lady.
So as children, nobody wanted to upset her.
We called her Grumpy Auntie.
And so one day, as a bunch of boys sitting in the courtyard, one of the older boys nudged me and whispered, Shane, look.
He pointed to the grapevine, and I saw a single bunch of grapes.
whoa, hanging from the vine.
And it just turned into beautiful, deep purple.
Wow, it looks so good.
It looks so good, even the fear of the grumpy auntie disappeared.
That's how good it is.
You know, let me tell you, it was fascinating because as a kid growing up in a concrete apartment block, Well, of course, I've seen grapes before, I've eaten grapes so many times, but they are all grapes in a plastic bag.
We have never seen a fresh fruit still connected to the vine.
It looks so good, it looks so attractive, so beautiful, and we want it so much.
As I was growing up, I lived in a concrete apartment block.
Gardening was never part of my life.
Everything around me was concrete.
But between my apartment block to the one next door, there was a shared courtyard.
It's like today's courtyard in the Sugar Tree's apartment, if you have visited there.
So there is a small pasture of green in the center.
But some of my neighbors, they loved gardening, so they would plant some flowers, some little plants, and even some fruit trees there.
But sometimes those fruits mysteriously disappeared.
some kids from the apartments pick it.
My parents believed those kids should be disciplined, but I disagreed because I was one of them.
And one day, one of our neighbors planted a grapevine.
Not very big, but very healthy, very beautiful.
And the problem is the owner was a rather grumpy lady.
So as children, nobody wanted to upset her.
We called her Grumpy Auntie.
And so one day, as a bunch of boys sitting in the courtyard, one of the older boys nudged me and whispered, Shane, look.
He pointed to the grapevine, and I saw a single bunch of grapes.
whoa, hanging from the vine.
And it just turned into beautiful, deep purple.
Wow, it looks so good.
It looks so good, even the fear of the grumpy auntie disappeared.
That's how good it is.
You know, let me tell you, it was fascinating because as a kid growing up in a concrete apartment block, Well, of course, I've seen grapes before, I've eaten grapes so many times, but they are all grapes in a plastic bag.
We have never seen a fresh fruit still connected to the vine.
It looks so good, it looks so attractive, so beautiful, and we want it so much.
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