When Life Hands You Lemons

You know how some people have emotional support animals? The kind that go everywhere with them, appropriate or not? I’m not quite that person. I don’t travel with an emotional support baby goat. But as I slid out of the holiday season and straight into my 2026 work schedule, I did need some support.

Mine arrived in a big box.

Inside: dozens of emotional support Meyer lemons. Not a garnish. Not a suggestion. A full-on citrus intervention from a friend in Arizona – a bowl’s worth of sun, fragrance, and aggressive optimism

Naturally, I went to town. Or at least to my kitchen, which is where most of my coping happens.

There was Meyer lemon marmalade, because feelings should be preserved in sugar. Meyer lemon ice cream, which tastes like hope mixed with cream. A Meyer lemon salsa spooned over blanched asparagus that somehow made vegetables feel celebratory. And yes, I tried my hand at Meyer lemon and blue poppy seed shortbread, because when life hands you lemons, butter should absolutely be involved.

And you know what? The Meyer lemons worked. I think I’m over the hump. The schedule is still intense, the emails are still coming, but the existential fog has lifted into something manageable. I may need additional emotional support citrus to get through the rest of winter, but I feel like the worst of it is behind me.

Also, equally important, I don’t think I’m going to be getting scurvy anytime soon.