December 29, 2024 at 8:45 a.m.
Elf Magic Not Required
Before I graduated from high school, Keebler elves were already making cookies. The Keebler family, however, had started the bakery over a hundred years before that without the little guys and their Hollow Tree Factory. They were good at what they did, but they had a lot of competition.
My mom was petite but bigger than those Keebler kids, and she could bake delicious cookies too. She preferred conjuring up cobblers and pies, but her skills were diverse. She worked her own magic with sweetened berries. A fresh-baked fragrance still lingers in her kitchen and in my memories. Sometimes I think about the cinnamon-laced, pie-crust cookies she made to hold us over until supper.
One afternoon my siblings and I came home from school to a special treat that didn’t demand her oven. Mom had a story to share.
The wall phone faced the kitchen and the dining table. When it rang that morning, she was caught off guard by an unexpected caller. J. Irwin Miller identified himself and started a cookie conversation. He had placed an order for Christmas and was checking on it. The problem was that he had not ordered them from Lillie Mae Perkinson.
When she explained that he apparently had the wrong number, Mr. Miller did not end the call abruptly. Mom smiled as she shared that he spoke with her for a while longer. Did she bake? Could he order cookies from her too? He built a relationship before saying goodbye and probably extending a Christmas greeting.
I never met Mr. Miller or heard him speak, but I can vividly recall his picture on the cover of Esquire (October 1967). He faced the right side of the cover. His expression was serious. His eyes looked straight ahead, maybe at the future. He exuded purpose.
But, that morning the same Mr. Miller, the gentleman who inadvertently connected with my mother through Ma Bell, was looking forward to Christmas, and he took time to be social. Undoubtedly Mr. Miller was busy, but he shared kindness and the magic of the season that touched a heart. I believe she did the same. What a life lesson!
