Apple heart links granddaughter and late Shelburne grandmother together

July 24, 2025 · 0 Comments

Written By PAULA BROWN

LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER

If the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, it also sits close to the heart for a former Shelburne resident.

When Jason Monette received a call from his 14-year-old daughter Ella, the last thing he expected was for her to tell him that her grandmother, who passed away nearly four years prior, had made her lunch for the day.

Ella explained to her father that while packing her lunch for school she’d picked a MacIntosh apple to take and, upon closer inspection, she’d found it had a perfect heart shape on the skin. It was a match to one her grandmother had discovered more than a decade before.

“She sent me the picture and it was the same one her grandmother found,” recalled Monette. “I stepped back a few steps. It was pretty amazing.”

In 2014, the Free Press reported that Monette’s mother, Barbara discovered a perfectly shaped heart on her MacIntosh apple.

After a grueling winter in Shelburne, Barbara had gone out and purchased a bag of MacIntosh apples. While washing the bag of apples, she was surprised to find that one was almost completely ripened except for one spot that happened to be in the shape of a heart.

For Barbara, the discovery felt like a profound message: It was a reminder not to lose hope and that spring will eventually arrive.

“When I saw that apple with the perfect heart on it, I thought, with all the turmoil going on in the world it’s wonderful to come across something like this,” Barbara Monette had told the Free Press.

Barbara passed away in September 2021 at the age of 79.

Speaking with the Free Press, Monette remembered the close relationship Barbara had with her family and grandkids and described her as the kind person who always tried to help others.

Monette said his family has viewed the discovery of the apple as a “heart-lifting” and “beautiful” coincidence, one that reminds them of their beloved mother and grandmother.

“Grandma was reaching out to her and it was nice to see that. We know she’s happy,” Monette said.