Well Bless Your Heart!

My friend Becka is Kind.  

Please notice that we are talking kind with a capital K.  Recently,  Kathy, one of our high school classmates, let several of us know via a group text that she and her husband were both being admitted to the hospital for COVID treatments. The miracle of modern medicine prevailed and in just a few days they were both being released.  Congratulatory texts were flying.  Becka was a member of the text group and before the rest of us had even processed the information, Becka had already offered to deliver a meal to our friend’s front porch that afternoon.  I was amazed at Becka’s quick reaction to the situation, her kindness, and that I would not have predicted that she would make this arrangement.  

This is why…

Outside of your spouse and your parents, who has prepared the most home cooked meals for you?  For me, the answer is arguably my friend Becka.  I could be wrong but in the last forty years Becka has hosted so many meals in her home that I have an honorary place at her table.

Way back before the pandemic, Becka was hosting a reunion meeting in her home and she invited 6-8 of us to attend.  Dinner was (of course) included.  In a rare moment of attempting to be nice, I offered and then insisted that I would provide dessert.  Becka finally agreed.

That afternoon, I stopped in the local grocery store to peruse the sweets in their bakery.  Cakes of all different colors and flavors were on display but no available bakery staff to question.  I chose a couple of cakes that I was interested in and read the first label.  It simply read Fresh Baked Binch Cake.  Since I was not sure about the flavors, I read the label of my next choice.  It also read: Fresh Baked Binch Cake.  No help.  So, I fell back to my standard when lost in the grocery store.  I simply waited until a pleasant looking Mom came by and asked if she could help me. Generally, people are nice to a deaf guy and this lady offered that one cake was lemon flavor and the other was likely some type of chocolate.  “Thanks,” I replied, “and one more thing…do you know what a binch cake might be? ” 

“Never heard of it” she replied, “Good luck! ”  And she was gone.

I chose the lemon cake, took it to the checkout line and made my purchase. As I lifted the cake to leave, I looked at the twenty-something cashier and said, “Hey, can you tell me what type of cake this is?  It is labeled binch cake.“

The poor cashier cocked her head to the right much like a dog might when it is not quite sure what it is seeing.  She smiled a smile that I immediately read as ‘well bless your heart’ and spoke very slowly as she said these words…

“Eight… Inch… Cake.“

Great, I thought, blind and deaf!

The meeting was a success.  The food as always, was delicious.  And my friend Becka assured herself a place in the Home-Cooking Hall of Fame.  I know these things because when you lose one of your senses the others ratchet up to help you overcome.  I believe that my sense of taste might be unmatched at this point.

Thank you Becka for leading by example, for your unwavering generosity, and for always sharing Kindness with your classmates!

As for me, I have this one bit of advice to offer which is the same advice that I gave that twenty-something cashier:  

“Take care of your hearing and your eyesight because getting old is a BINCH!”

Thanks for listening!

Your friend,

KBM

Kevin Medlin
kevin@mysilentpew.com