Lemon Meringue Pie

It’s nice to be tall.
I was taller than both of my parents, since I was adopted.
I have always been grateful to my mother for her constant reminder.
Stand tall; hold your head up high.

Here I am decades later and I am still following her advice.
It could have gone the other way.
I could have been embarrassed that I was taller than both of my parents.
My mother encouraged me to be proud of my height.

There’s nothing worse than a tall person who slouches, she would say.
Slouching was not allowed.
Head held high was to be expected.
Not in a snobby way but in a way that never tried to hide my height.

My height has come in handy many times.
Especially in the grocery store.
Especially when shorter people cannot reach things.
I cannot tell you how many times I have been asked to get something off the top shelf.

It happened the other day.
A very tiny woman needed chicken bouillon cubes.
Why they put a tiny box of bouillon cubes on the top shelf I will never understand.
Can you get them for me? She asked.

Oh, they only have beef bouillon cubes, I told her after looking at the shelf.
That’s fine; you can get me one of them, she said.
I got the box and handed it to her as she thanked me profusely.
Oh, they do have chicken bouillon cubes in another brand, I told her.

I’d like one of those, she said as if she was placing an order.
Mission accomplished.
Two boxes of bouillon cubes were in her small shopping cart.
How’s that, Mom? I thought, as I walked away.

A woman passed us both as the bouillon cubes were being retrieved.
Even though it was quite cold, with snow in the forecast, she was wearing shorts.
She wore a heavy flannel jacket.
She had boots on her feet.

I had to move my cart so she could pass by.
When I turned onto the baking aisle, the woman wearing shorts was there.
She was looking intently at the shelves, not finding what she was looking for.
They don’t have any lemon filling, she said to no one in particular.

Do you see any? She asked me.
I looked at the cans of apple and pumpkin filling but saw no lemon pie filling.
I don’t think they have any, I answered her.
I have to make his lemon meringue pie, she said as if I understood.

See, I tried to make his lemon meringue pie a while back but it wasn’t as good as his mother’s.
I listened to see where she was going with the story.
I tried it again but never got it quite right, she went on.
I was beginning to think that he was a bit unreasonable.

He pushed the plate away the first time I made it, she said.
I was trying to like this unidentified he but was finding it a bit difficult.
And I don’t have my phone to look up the recipe, she said.
I have my phone, I told her, I can look it up for you.

Oh, would you? She asked.
I did a quick search, misspelling the word, meringue.
The first pie that came up was, Grandma’s Lemon Meringue Pie.
I held out my phone so she could read the recipe.

I have that, and that, and…I just don’t have the lemons, she announced.
That made sense, since she was looking for lemon pie filling.
I’ll just go get some lemons, she told me.
He has to have his lemon meringue pie, she said as she turned to go down the aisle.

It sounds like you spoil him, I said, meaning it.
I do! She said emphatically.
That’s good, I told her.
He’s on borrowed time, she said quietly as she walked away.

One could easily have misunderstood her words.
One could easily have thought she said those words in annoyance.
But they would be wrong.
There was pain in her voice; there was urgency.

This woman, in the shorts and heavy flannel jacket, was on a mission.
He was on on borrowed time.
He wanted a lemon meringue pie in the middle of winter.
She had all the ingredients except the lemons.

Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. (James 4:14)

We think we are invincible.
We never consider that we are living on borrowed time.
We will have a last day.
On that day, we will stand before God.

The woman in shorts and the heavy flannel jacket understood something we all push aside.
One day, our life will end.
We are to make the most of the days we are given, while we can.
Even if it means making lemon meringue pie in the middle of winter.

2 responses to “Lemon Meringue Pie”

1. I love that you have conversations in grocery stores even with social distancing and masks! And your conversations are edifying and helpful. Thanks for your example, I’m encouraged to do better. If we don’t shine the light of Christ through kindness who will?

   Reply

   • Paula,
     I am so blessed by the people I talk to in the grocery store. There is so much to see and hear and it only takes a few minutes. It is a privilege to listen. You are right. Our kindness may point them to Jesus.
     Gina

     Reply