Sunday, May 5, 2013

Bumpy Cake, Coneys and the Crying Girl

Last Saturday dawned bright and sunny, the first true spring day after a very long winter. It was also a holiday. Sanders, a Detroit institution known for their many delicious confections, was celebrating the 100-year anniversary of the Bumpy Cake! If you haven't had it, I'm sorry. It is quite the most delicious cake I've ever tried! My mom always made sure I had Bumpy Cake for my birthday.

In honor of this celebration, Sanders was giving away a free slice of Bumpy Cake! Yippee! I eagerly went to claim my slice. After some errands, I stopped for lunch at National Coney Island, another Detroit institution. I had a craving for a Hani. They were quite busy, no doubt everyone wanting to be out, enjoying our fine weather. There was an older couple seated in the booth in front of me. They had the ease and quiet happiness of couple who've been married a long time. The wife, seated facing my direction, caught my eye and smiled. I was drawn in by their relaxed conversation and happy attitude. She caught my eye again. I asked her if she had claimed her free slice of Bumpy Cake. She eagerly asked me where was the nearest location. We will go after lunch, she said, twinkle in her eye. She thanked me for sharing with her.

I finished my lunch before they did, so as I went up to pay my bill I handed her one of the envelopes with the gift card and just said, thank you. They made me hopeful that a relationship with a great partner is indeed possible.

I'm having surgery in a couple weeks and needed to pay my bill with the surgeon. The office was empty except for the sounds of someone sobbing extremely loud. This was indeed odd for a doctor's office. Whoever was sobbing was also talking to themselves. "Don't be so stupid," she said. "Stop it." She came walking up to the desk and was startled by my presence. She was still crying. She said she hoped I hadn't been there long. I said no, only a minute or so. She explained she had slammed her finger in a drawer retrieving a patient file and it hurt so bad. She went on to say that her grandfather had passed away the previous day and she was so sad. She apologized to me for being so stupid, as she put it. I told her she wasn't stupid and I'm sure that her finger hurt, but it was probably more the loss she experienced to bring on the tears. I told her that our emotions are what they are and they will come out one way or the other. Although her finger hurt, it was the loss of her grandpa that really caused her pain. After I settled my business, I handed her an envelope and said I hope this would brighten her day a bit. Hopefully it did.