Malinda Words: Anthony Courseault’s tryst with grapes

Anthony Courseault (Snr)

Grapes make me think of Eduardo Galeano’s Book of Embraces which is full of thought provoking reflections on everyday things.

This:

'On his deathbed, a man of the vineyards spoke into Marcela’s ear. Before dying, he revealed his secret: “The grape,” he whispered, “is made of wine.” Marcela Perez-Silva told me this, and I thought: If the grape is made of wine, then perhaps we are the words that tell who we are.’

Years later, I too extrapolated: ‘if the grape is made of wine then I am made of you [‘The Sunday Island' of January 4, 2004].’ Later that year, watching the mother of a friend from Türkiye prepare dolma, I asked, ‘what is that leaf?’ She struggled a bit to get the English name and finally said, ‘wine leaves.’ She meant ‘grape leaves.’

Our words tell who we are and this is a story about words and grapes.

A few days ago I met an old friend I hadn’t seen in 28 years. Anthony ‘Tony’ Courseault (Jr) and I were students in the same masters program, way back when. We both dropped out. We both stepped into lives that made us feel we were alive. We corresponded. And among the many things we talked about was the politics of the healthcare industry and especially the lies about food.

Tony told me how his mother Vivienne had been diagnosed with lung cancer in 2017. After her lower right lobe was surgically removed, her diagnosis had been upgraded from stage two to stage four. That’s when Tony had placed her on a raw vegan diet consisting of recipes from just vegetables, fruit, seeds and nuts. She was cleared of cancer five months later.

Vivienne

And just a few days ago, in the midst of amazing conversations, he told me how he had recommended an all-grape diet to his 79 year old father, Anthony ‘Tony’ Courseault (Sr).

‘Ok, I won’t beat a dead horse, but a good grape fast would go a long way in solving some of the issues we’ve talked about that you are chronically dealing with. I promise I won’t bring it up again.’

Grape fast. That’s the term. This was on September 28, 2023. Exactly 80 days ago. He just ate grapes throughout the day, whenever he was hungry. On a side note, a few years ago, following Tony Junior’ss advice, I went on an all-fruit diet. I managed to get through one week. I felt good, but it wasn’t easy. But eighty days? Unfathomable!

And today, Tony (Sr) had written the following to Tony (Jr):

‘Finally, FINALLY!!! I see concrete changes in my body due to my grape fast. No more headache. My nails are definitely stronger. Usually I am not aware of my nails, but it was so obvious I could not help but notice! I have not experienced any pain from my arthritis in weeks! Usually in the morning and in the evening when I scrape my tongue of mucus (or whatever) it takes between 7 to 15 scrapes, but now only 2 to 4. I experienced a sharp pain in my calf and an “ankle like sprain pain” on the TOP of my foot — I never ever experienced a pain like that in that location (the pain is gone now). Additionally, the fungus in my toes has decreased. However, I have been soaking them in baking soda, epsom salt, vinegar etc.; additionally I apply a deep cleansing pad at night.’

Tony (Sr), who worked as a Store Keeper Master Chief, was in the US Navy and is now a Josephite Catholic Missionary based in Washington DC is clearly a determined man. He has essentially abandoned or at least shelved a lifestyle he’s been used to for more than seven decades. Food habits are extremely hard to change, but he’s done it. He tells his son that he’s extremely weak with very little energy, but adds that he knows this is part of the process.

Tony (Jr)

The grape is made of wine. There are words that tell who we are. Words tell who we can become. And grapes are words that tell the story of a 79 year old man who is clearly excited about a simple change in diet whose curative properties he has only begun to discover.

Grapes are gifts from a son to a father who turned them into words which he could then gift his son.

And that’s the story of grapes I have to tell.

['The Morning Inspection' is the title of a column I wrote for the Daily News from 2009 to 2011, one article a day, Monday through Saturday. This is the 295th article in the new series that began in December 2022. Links to previous articles are given below]

20 December 2023

Anthony Courseault’s tryst with grapes

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