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| Card / Poster from one of my favorite companies: The Printery House ~ Conception Abbey ~ Missouri |
Be gentle when you touch bread.
Let it not lie uncared for,
Beauty of sun and soil,
Winds and rain caressed it,
Christ often blessed it
Be gentle when you touch bread.
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A year or so ago, my friend Rozena, who lives and works and writes in Paris, posted this sweet anecdote:
"Back safely in gay Paris, thanks in large part to an 84 - year - old man with a cane who insisted on carrying my suitcase up two flights of stairs. Apparently after fighting in WWII and doing something - something french - accent - I - don't - understand - something in Province, that's the shit that keeps you young."
I loved Rozena's story and recommended that she save it for a future magazine article. It struck a chord with me because I had recently had a similar experience at the supermarket, loading up my car with donated day - old bread to take to the Food Pantry. My 80 - something guy was having a cup of coffee at the little Starbucks counter that is inside our grocery store, right near the bakery. He asked where I was going with all that bread, and then volunteered to help me wheel it out to my car. When we were done, he said, "Well, I better get back in there and pay for my coffee."
There was something so straightforward about his chivalry and so trusting about his closing remark, like a scene right out of Pleasantville or Mayberry R.F.D. It totally made my day. Maybe it was because a kind stranger had just been so gentle about bread.
