I’ve heard it said, God speaks through other people, and quite often not necessarily gently. It seems, you haven’t been listening, so he has to hit you over the head to say…
PROSPECTIVE SUSANNAH…KEEP IT ALL IN PROSPECTIVE!
This was the case yesterday as I hurried home with a Key Lime Pie a friend baked for me, annoyed that not only do I now have a pie in a cooler no less I can’t eat I’ll end up giving to the doorman, but she made me pick it up.
I’m from Connecticut where all gifts get delivered by the gifter.
So I’m muttering to myself, sweat pouring off me in the..now do you believe in…Global Warming heat, when a mom, dad and a child in a rather big stroller come towards me.
They stop to get something from a bag draped over its handles, when I see the little boy who’s around 6, has no hair. He blinks at me in the harsh sun with a face so sad aimed straight for my heart.
It dawns on me the little guy is sick, not that anyone is mewling about it, including him, though he wasn’t your average kid having a grand slam summer either.
The mom smiles. “It’s pretty hot out here.”
“Yeah,” I say, trying not to stare at her son.
She then starts putting sunblock on his hairless head. “He won’t wear a hat,” she says, “so every few blocks he gets a little.”
The kid who you know has been through much worse, stoically sits with that same look as if to say, why can’t everyone just leave me alone.
I then notice his father keeping a supportive hand on his small shoulder maybe thinking, I wish I could just take him to a baseball game.
Me and my pie want to cry, now ashamed, when it nudges me and says, “Hey, I’ve got an idea. Maybe he’d like me.”
“Do you like pie?” I ask him.
He perks up.
“Ah-ha. Well, I have one here a friend baked for me as a belated birthday gift I can’t eat.”
“How come?” he asks, speaking for the first time.
“I’m not supposed to have sugar.”
“Then why did your friend make you a pie?” From the mouth of babes.
“Good question,” I say, now wondering this myself.
Just then one of my doormen go by as mom is applying more sunscreen.
Since he’s bald too, he says, “Hey, could I have a little a’ that?”
The kid loves this as his mother squirts some in his oversized hand.
As we’re all about to leave, the kid says, “What are ya gonna do with your pie?”
“Hush now,” says mom, “that’s not polite.”
She looks embarrassed before saying, “He loves dessert.”
I’ve heard it said, God speaks through other people, and this time did it sweetly, as I stroll home with my doorman who never knew just how close he came to a homemade pie with…
Happy Birthday Lolita, blazing across it.
Lolita…very funny.
SB
Grumble pie turned into humble pie! Hooray for you and a boy who loves dessert!! You are both winners.
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He was Mom’s Apple Pie more than a Key Lime, you word wizard you. 🙂
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The key — he was the apple of his mother’s eye, quite subLIME.
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Oh man…how am I gonna top that.
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You already did. Your posts are beautifully written, and no one can top them.
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I’m talking about your snappy wordplay I so envy. You think it’s a piece a’ cake or pie in this case, but it’s an art, that quick, witty repartee with f yours.
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But you are good at it, too. We tend to stay in shape here, because David loves to join us in punning. You have to keep up, or you drop out. Late at night when my brain has shut down, I let the puns roll right over my head.
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Love that image, like waves. 🙂
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I still can’t come up with a snappy reTART to your witty wordplay. Sigh
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I thought you got your just desserts, Susannah. Oh, no, you gave the pie away. That’s my reTORTE.
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You’re killing me. You’re kickin’ my butt Anne. sigh
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I just like to play with words. You are a wonderful word partner.
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You probably kill at Scrabble. I love your wordplay. Always make me smile 🙂
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I played Scrabble two or three times, and I bombed. I was terrible at it! Do you play?
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Hard to believe you bombed when it comes to words in any form. I figured you kicked John’s butt courtesy of Milton Bradley. So it’s hardscrabble, is that what you’re saying? 🙂
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LOL! Good one, Susannah! I can’t top that one — would never have thought of it myself.
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I’m reading a bio on U.S Grant, so oddly enough, his farm was named, Hardscrabble. How handy was that? 🙂
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Hardscrabble was there when you needed it!
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A perfect pie story, Susannah. I agree that gifts should be delivered by the gifter. An exception might be if the gifter was an elderly shut-in who made the gift.
I love that the pieless doorman asked for some sunscreen, too. I’m sure it made the young boy much more willing to get slathered.
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He’s actually my favorite doorman…bighearted, helpful, funny and stopped for the same reason I did. You just couldn’t help it.
‘There but for the grace of God go I.’ sigh
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You have a heart of gold.
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You would have given him your pie too. He humbled me right down to my peds.
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Your story cakes the pie, which is standing in (sub-limely) for cake.
As for you, young lady. You take the pie, the cake, the whole nine yards.
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Key Lime is my favorite pie 🥧 of all time next to Banana Cream you can only get in Jersey. That was the real cause for my grumbling. I knew I’d inhale it so I couldn’t bring it home. If you saw the kid’s face when I gave it to him you would have cried. He hugged it, like a friend. 😥
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I love both, much.
And I see you utilize the same strategy as I do. When you can’t trust yourself with a certain food, you make sure not to bring it into your home.
That was a pie well spent, SB.
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Love the last line. Yes, well said. Pie for me is like crack. One slice just leads to another.
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It’s the circle of life, in pie form.
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What did she die of? Key Lime Poisoning.
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Buahahaha!
To paraphrase a classic movie quote . . . “It was feast killed the beauty”
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Rather feast than famine. 🙃
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Now I’m hungry.
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A little Sorryless on rye…extra mayo
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You’ve got the ingredients down cold! 🙂
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I love mayo. Could eat it by the spoon. sigh
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Promise me you’ll keep this one in your vault but . . . I’ve done the mayo sammie. Mayo, hold the rest.
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Pie. is. good. like. God. is. good.
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God comes in all forms, even with a graham cracker crust it seems. 🙂
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Totally. I wanted Key Lime Pie all day yesterday.
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I know what you mean.
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Awww… that way a beautiful story, Susannah. If you can’t eat it, then who better to give it to?
My husband’s favourite was key-lime pie…
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That’s nice to hear. I was very ungracious about it even as I wrote my thank you note but remembered who ended up getting it something I left out of the note. I’m lucky this person is not a blog reader. She’s too busy baking. 🙂
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Luckily…😉
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Another example why I enjoy your writing … and you have quite the heart.
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Your heart’s pretty big Frank. You would have made him a CD of all his favorite tunes no doubt. 🙂
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That Key-Lime pie wasn’t ‘pie in the sky’…it was the real thing. Just lookin’ at it would have that boy politely drooling. I could just envision he and my basset friend, Lulu, sitting together devouring that pie. Lulu was a pie thief. She could steal it right under your nose w/o losing a single crumb. God is so expert at putting THE person in exactly the opportune place at exactly the perfect moment …the boy ended up pie eyed…I betcha’. Good hearts abound and your story was sub-Lime.
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Lulu makes me think of Carmela, who I still miss, who also liked to swipe food when no one was looking. We had an incident in the Park with a tuna salad sandwich that could have gone down badly since she took it from a kid, but the family just fell in love and offered her a cookie for later. Carm had real charm as I’m certain did Lulu.
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I forgot to mention the last pie Lulu swiped was a Key Lime…ate the entire pie! Her fav!!!
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I’ll bet he really enjoyed that pie. Sounds amazing. I’m sure it made his parents’ day as well
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It was a humbling experience to meet this little hero.
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Law of Attraction – all things are perfect. we just so seldom get to see how it fits together.
Thanks for sharing.
Scott
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Thank you.
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Wlcm
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Pingback: Humble Pie | Kindredspirit23's Blog
Thank you very much. Always a grace to be linked. 🙂
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