Marion & Dick

When Craig and I were newlyweds and living in our first house, we made fast friends with our neighbors, Marion and Dick, a retired couple married over 50 years.  Marion and I grew a beautiful friendship through our shared interest in gardening, cooking and baking.  Many recipes were exchanged over four years, pies and breads made their way across the lawns to be tasted, and countless hours were whiled away in Marion's sitting room.  As a new wife, I so appreciated the wisdom and support of my much older friend.

Marion died several years ago of complications from breast cancer.  I wish she could have met our kids - she would have adored them just the way they are, exactly the way she did her own grandson with special needs.  I think of Marion often and definitely every spring when her irises bloom in my front yard and every December when I bake her molasses cookies with a recipe that has been passed down in Dick's family for about 120 years.

This year, I introduced Ella to the art of making Marion's molasses cookies and told her all about my wonderful friend.  Then we packed up a few cookies and sent them on their way to Dick, now nearly 90, in hopes that they would bring back a flavorful hint of his childhood and married years and let him know we love him.

I miss you, dear friend.  A part of you is here with me still and will be as long as irises bloom in spring and cookies are baked at Christmas.