Special Delivery Cherry 3.14

The perpetual quest to fail upward consumes a lot of my time and resources.  AcMo’s continued survival demands constant attention, so some important aspects of life get missed because it is impossible to serve both and excel.  I have a special friend who has been run over by the AcMo freight train.  She's a great person and has been important to me since the moment we met. There are times when I wonder how I ever managed without her in my life. She's smart, has a great sense of humor, she’s kind and caring, an awesome mother, and her hair looks...well, you know.  I could go on, but I don’t want anyone to think I play favorites because I don’t.

Years ago we used to spend many Sunday mornings together having brunch. That was one of our routines that we just fell into because it felt right. I remember those days well. I couldn't tell you a single thing we discussed, but I know we had profound conversations while enjoying the finer elements of brunch fare—no Mimosas though.  I don't think any of our other friends knew about our regular brunch meetings.  We never discussed it with anyone else because it was just our thing.  I am only willing to share it now because the statute of limitations has long since expired.

She was always there when I needed a friend for support.  She protected me from making mistakes all guys make and helped me recover when I didn't heed her advice. She has never failed to be a true friend. I can't say the same, but then I'm not at her level.

At this point you may be thinking she sounds too good to be true. This isn't another Ingrid situation in which a clever mannequin duped me again.  I assure you, this woman is real.  I've failed to convey just how amazing she is because I lack that capability.  I suppose if you imagined all of the qualities you wanted in a true friend and then added a wonderful smile, you could come close to understanding the essence of my friend.  In addition, she was once my muse.  Everyone should have a muse and a theme song.  A muse can help you channel your passion and inspire the best possible creations.  The importance of a theme song should be obvious.

There doesn’t seem to be a downside to her or our relationship, right?  There’s always a crack no matter how perfect the façade appears.  Our problem was the result of a simple misunderstanding that has caused a growing rift.  This has been a recurring theme in AcMo operations as well.  It’s probably me.  She thinks I owe her a fresh cherry pie.  I disagree.  I feel she owes me a pie.  See, I might have made her one from scratch a lifetime ago.  I can't remember now, but I'm sure it was delectable because I can bake when allowed near the real ovens.  My mistake may have been failing to sandbag on the baking.  I didn’t consider that I might have been setting myself up for a perpetual baking assignment.  I couldn’t always think ahead in those days.  I did try to ameliorate her pie lust by giving her my bus pass.  That failed and left me stranded at the mall for days.

My long lost chickens came home to roost.  Now I am being hounded because she wants another pie. I've made her several, but she never comes by to get them.  I am always mindful to send her pics of the pies moments after they are ejected from the oven.  They are so photogenic with their crisp and flaky crusts and smooth cherry filling; you can almost taste the flavor wafting about in the photos.  It would be wrong to let a good pie go to waste, so I eat them. That may mean I'm a bad friend, but at least I think about her when I'm enjoying the pies.  It is the thought that counts.

I've thought about sending her a pie, but I didn't think it would survive the long trip through harsh conditions to reach her homestead.  It was my duty to tell her this, and she surprised me by providing logistical solutions within seconds of hearing a pie shipment was possible.  I had no idea there were shipping containers designed to hold a pie.  There are also refrigeration techniques to keep it fresh while in transit.  That is so neat.  Too bad I can’t make it to the store to get a pie shipped.

She gave me one of the best gifts I have ever received. I've told her this so often that she is probably sick of hearing about it. It still amazes me that her gift was exactly what I needed when I needed it and she knew this without a word from me.

I guess I do owe her a pie or ten.  I will make an actual effort to send one to her the next time I make one.  I can't promise the next pie will have any more luck leaving the kitchen than its predecessors.  I would at least be required to taste it to make sure it was safe to ship.  That's what a good friend would do.  Once the integrity has been breached though, it wouldn’t be right to ship it.  I stress the importance of shipping complete products whenever possible with AcMo, so it wouldn’t be right to ship an incomplete pie to a special friend.  Contradictions like that create inappropriate business and life habits.  It would also reflect poorly on my character.

To my very special friend:  your pie is in the mail because you’ve earned it.  Expect delays since it is the holiday season.  I’ll send the tracking number soon.