Saturday, April 23, 2011

23 April 2011

Today is the day before Easter. Emily called me in the morning. I was hungover.

She, Seth, Hank, and I went to DelBuono's Bakery to get rolls for Easter dinner at mom's.

When you walk into the bakery, the smell hangs there, glorious. There is a huge oven at the back of the shop and fresh rolls come out and slide down an inclined plane onto a conveyor belt.

People reach out and grab the hot rolls and stuff them into bags then go pay for them.

Over the oven is a big sign, "DelBuono's Bakery: Friend of the Working Man."

Emily was standing off to the side with Hank on her hip. Seth and I were grabbing at rolls and filling our bags. Hank was wearing a dinosaur hat, green and orange. The head from his dinosaur costume.

Here is a scene I will remember all my life. That smell. The hotness of rolls in my hands. My beautiful nephew. My sister. The rustling of bags. The people inching up behind me in line. "Friend of the working man."

I saw it all as though I were dying. As if I were looking back on this moment from a time far in the future. All the rustic sensuality of it. All of us healthy. Hank still small enough to be carried. Me and the people I love and this ancient, simple action: taking hot bread fresh from the oven.

My heart was open and my gratitude complete.

There are still things in this world that are true. Never despair. DelBuono's bakery.