This last month, in addition to baking almost every day, I’ve had a couple of interesting “pie” experiences that I would like to share with you.
A Quiche for Liz
The first occurred at a party for my husband’s team of managers. One of the women there asked me if I was still baking pies everyday. No, I answered, it’s more like a few times a month. She then turned to her partner and said, “Karen baked a pie a day for a year.” That’s when he looked at me and said, “You’re the pie lady? You brought me a pie!”
Pumpkin Pie for Debbie
I wondered how that could be for I’d never seen this man before. When he told me that he knew my friend Shirley it all came back to me. During my “pie year”, Shirley had asked me to bring a pie to this man because he’d been so very kind and helpful to her… and of course I said I would. Then she told me that he would not want to meet me (he’s pretty shy) and so we arranged to leave the pie in a safe place near his house. He told me that he had arrived home that night wondering what he would have for dinner and saw a pie sitting there. He said that pie solved the problem! How about that… one day I deliver a pie and three years later, I finally meet the recipient!
A quiche for my friend in need
Then last week my husband and his team went to dinner with a business consultant and her husband. My friend, Amey, was there and casually mentioned to them that Emile’s wife (me) had created a project a few years back, giving away a pie a day. The couple both seemed stunned and told Amey that their friend back home in Sacramento had read about my pie story. She’d been so inspired by it that she decided to set up a pie stand (much like a lemonade stand).
The next day that same couple popped into the kitchen at the B&B where I am working (they were guests there… another coincidence?). They were happy to meet me and so excited that they could go home and share this news with their friend. I gave them my card and hope that their friend will soon share her pie experiences with me!
Prepping an Apple Pie
Finally, several months back I baked a pie and a friend came to mind and I decided to bring her the pie. When I reached her on her cell phone and asked if she was at home, she told me no… and was in fact on her way to her sister’s funeral. When I told her the reason for my call, she thanked me and said she felt better knowing that I’d been thinking of her. A few days ago, I baked an apple pie and called that same friend. This time she was home… but shared that her brother was very ill and she’d just returned from visiting him. She said that she would love a pie and thought it might help to cheer her up. It seems strange that I thought of her when she going through two very difficult times… but I was so grateful to be able to help in my own way.
An Apple pie for Judy
Though these stories are not extraordinary at all, what most surprises me is the fact that years after my project ended, I am still discovering how people – some whom I don’t even know – were affected in some way by the gift of a pie.
“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” Mother Teresa
Pie a Day Give Away 