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Let me share a story with you. About ten days ago, I had a
book signing in NC. Obviously, because I lived there for 8 years, I have
several very sweet friends that I decided to take a few days and visit with
prior to the book signing. It was an absolutely beautiful drive down, the
weather was gorgeous, the air clean and fresh; and, as the Smokey’s do for me,
my soul was filled with love. There is something absolutely amazing about those
lush, green, mountains that stir my heart as nothing else can do.
It was my second day there when my tummy began to get my
attention. After a visit to the white buffalo that lives behind the cabin I use
to own, that I felt heaviness in my belly. Two of my friends from Martinsville
joined me the next day and despite all the positive self-talk I could do, my
body became warm with fever and all I could do was sleep.
Two days later I am sitting at the book signing doing my
best to be cheerful and upbeat. It was, indeed, the mountains in the backdrop
that make the day tolerable. Well, let me be honest, I had a delicious ice
cream cone that certainly cooled my belly for a few moments!
The drive back the next day was not very pleasant and when I
got home the first thing I did was take my temperature; it was 101. The next
day was Memorial Day and once again, I lay low and slept. It was another two
days when I prayed to Creator to give my body some relief. My son highly
recommended I see the doctor, so I did dig out her number. When I found out she
was out until 4 that afternoon, I told my body, “OK, one more day and we’re
going to the doctor. You better get well!”
That evening as I lay in bed having this conversation with
my body, all I could think about was homemade cookies. Being conscience of the
calories I take in, especially from sugar, I decided they were too rich and
full of fat and sugar. It was then I thought of my mother’s infamous coffee
cake. It had been years since I thought of that delicious creation. So, I drug
myself out of bed, retrieved my mother’s recipe and commenced making “Cowboy
Coffee Cake.”
I do not know what it was about that cinnamon smell that
filled the air, but I couldn’t eat a piece fast enough when it came out of the
oven. The tasty morsel moved along my palate, down to my achy belly and all I
could do was moan! It was the best thing I had eaten in eons!
Now, here’s the kicker. When I woke up the next morning, I
felt better. I took my temperature and for the first time in a week, it was
normal. You may be thinking, “How can that be? What in the world could make a
coffee cake remedy a weeklong bellyache?" Well, I call it comfort food. There
was something in looking at the handwritten recipe on an yellowing aged white index card
that began the healing process. When the smell filled the air with cinnamon,
memories flooded in of my childhood, the sweetness of having my mother make
everything from scratch when the cabinets seemed too bare to possibly be enough
to make something to eat. My mother was like that, she could make something out
of nothing and have it fill your belly with the comforting warmth of love that
anything that ailed you could be immediately healed. All that from Cowboy
Coffee Cake! It is one of those mysteries only the heart understands.