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Heaven is a pie shop
Heaven is a pie shop. I know because I visit it in my dreams. There is a sapphire ribbon of river winding passed cobblestone streets like old Paris. The pie shop is run by a short cherub of an angel who works with the kind of determination owned by all bakers who are not quite sure that you really deserve pie slice a good as the one you are about to get. Everyone gets to be their favorite age. I always sit by the water. The weather is that slight crisp feel of early spring, and of course, the lemon meringue pie is heaven on a fork.
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My life is a lot like a pie shop, but it has been a bit earthier. Sometimes you get real whipped cream, sometimes French cream. Sometimes weepy meringue.
Weepy meringue days are the ones that pierce your heart forever, but you still hold together. When our youngest daughter was very young, she needed regular MRI’s and she was terrified of them. They had to mummy wrap her to get her into the scanner and she screamed at us to save her. Why are letting them do this to me!! Save me!! Why are you letting them hurt me? You never forget that and even though today she is a perfectly healthy, beautiful, and accomplished adult. When you are in a place where even time pauses, you weep so much that inside your heart that your tears make little holes. It takes a long time to understand that this is not a bad thing because it is through those tiny holes that compassion creeps in. You need meringue days even though they are hard to live through.
French cream events take time to achieve. Jon and I were in graduate school together. We graduated with our master's degrees and then worked on our Ph.D.’s. These are the kind of events that take so long to finish that when completed you never really feel finished. Time is a big part of the process because time is needed to redefine certainty and identity. French cream events teach patience and the value of steady progress.
Whipped cream days are so rich that you know they are not going to last. I have had many whipped cream days. On our first wedding anniversary, we had a little money saved I decided to spend on a computer for Jon while Jon was unknowingly, simultaneously spending that same money on a ring for me. It was foolish and we would have been in real trouble if Jon had not financed his purchase but how often does your life mirror an O'Henry story? Jon was a Mardi Gras King one year and we danced so much and so long that I wore holes in my shoes. It takes a truly exceptional man to let his wife talk him into wearing gold and red lamé in public. Our oldest daughter was selected as commencement speaker for her law class. Our youngest daughter still makes us laugh so hard that I cannot catch my breath. We have had very rich years and we had wonderful times; we have had very lean years and still had wonderful times. Whipped cream days are the luxuries that are right at your fingertips. The trick learning to recognize them.
There are many days that I wish for some small miracle and God provides it. One day I was having lunch with a friend and I was lamenting that I had not tried the sample tiramisu that that same restaurant had served at open house a few days before. The words had barely left my lips when a chubby cherub of a waiter sailed into view and offered us a sample tasting of the same tiramisu I had been wishing for. God really is very good to me. I always look for, and appreciate, small miracles.
Life really is like a pie shop. It may not quite be heaven but is it always worth going back for seconds. There is always a new experience waiting to be shared. Perhaps our paths will cross and we can share a slice of pie as we work through life's menu.
Weepy meringue days are the ones that pierce your heart forever, but you still hold together. When our youngest daughter was very young, she needed regular MRI’s and she was terrified of them. They had to mummy wrap her to get her into the scanner and she screamed at us to save her. Why are letting them do this to me!! Save me!! Why are you letting them hurt me? You never forget that and even though today she is a perfectly healthy, beautiful, and accomplished adult. When you are in a place where even time pauses, you weep so much that inside your heart that your tears make little holes. It takes a long time to understand that this is not a bad thing because it is through those tiny holes that compassion creeps in. You need meringue days even though they are hard to live through.
French cream events take time to achieve. Jon and I were in graduate school together. We graduated with our master's degrees and then worked on our Ph.D.’s. These are the kind of events that take so long to finish that when completed you never really feel finished. Time is a big part of the process because time is needed to redefine certainty and identity. French cream events teach patience and the value of steady progress.
Whipped cream days are so rich that you know they are not going to last. I have had many whipped cream days. On our first wedding anniversary, we had a little money saved I decided to spend on a computer for Jon while Jon was unknowingly, simultaneously spending that same money on a ring for me. It was foolish and we would have been in real trouble if Jon had not financed his purchase but how often does your life mirror an O'Henry story? Jon was a Mardi Gras King one year and we danced so much and so long that I wore holes in my shoes. It takes a truly exceptional man to let his wife talk him into wearing gold and red lamé in public. Our oldest daughter was selected as commencement speaker for her law class. Our youngest daughter still makes us laugh so hard that I cannot catch my breath. We have had very rich years and we had wonderful times; we have had very lean years and still had wonderful times. Whipped cream days are the luxuries that are right at your fingertips. The trick learning to recognize them.
There are many days that I wish for some small miracle and God provides it. One day I was having lunch with a friend and I was lamenting that I had not tried the sample tiramisu that that same restaurant had served at open house a few days before. The words had barely left my lips when a chubby cherub of a waiter sailed into view and offered us a sample tasting of the same tiramisu I had been wishing for. God really is very good to me. I always look for, and appreciate, small miracles.
Life really is like a pie shop. It may not quite be heaven but is it always worth going back for seconds. There is always a new experience waiting to be shared. Perhaps our paths will cross and we can share a slice of pie as we work through life's menu.
Bon Appetit!
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