Where Did You Get the Pies? - Dr. Ed Iannuccilli

Where Did You Get the Pies? - Dr. Ed Iannuccilli

I love to share two of my favorite Thanksgiving stories. Many of you have read them, and because of your encouraging notes, I will visit them again. The first involves my mother and her sister. The second, next week, my grandparents.

This story about pie on Thanksgiving Day is important because pie is such a critical part of the dinner, almost as popular as the turkey. Pumpkin pie leads the list (though custard is my favorite).

Why do we eat pie on Thanksgiving? It certainly wasn't part of any feast with the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag tribe of Native Americans, even though the Native Americans brought pumpkins as gifts to the first settlers and taught them its many uses. They wouldn't have had the ingredients necessary for making a pie crust.

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Credit for the pumpkin's place of honor at the holiday table should probably go to author Sarah Josepha Hale (“Mary Had a Little Lamb”) who promoted the idea of a national holiday and for pumpkin pie at the table.

One Thanksgiving, Aunt Vera brought an apple pie and a pumpkin pie. With her baking days long over, she most likely bought the pies at a wonderful neighborhood bakery, DeLuise’s.

When the dinner was over and all retreated to their homes, guess what happened? You bet. The usual. My mother telephoned her sister. This time it was not to rehash already discussed activities. Rather, my mother had a question.

“Vera, where did you get the pies?”

“Holy Ghost Church,” quipped Vera.

“Veer-ra (the name mom used when she got annoyed), “What are you talking about! You did not get pies at the Holy Ghost Church.”

“Ann-nuh (now Vera was annoyed). “Of course, I did. You remember. We all did.”

“We all did what?”

“Got baptized at the Holy Ghost Church. You asked me where I got baptized! You did! And you knew it was the Holy Ghost church. Why did you ask me?”

“Veer-ruh, I asked you WHERE YOU GOT THE PIES. YOU KNOW. THE ONES YOU BROUGHT TODAY. NOT WHERE YOU GOT BAPTIZED!”

“Ann-nuh, you need to have your hearing checked. You’re speaking too loudly.”

“So do you! Baptized. Who cares where you got baptized.”

Mom hung up abruptly, turned to us, and said, “My sister’s nuts!” It’s a story that lives, grows, and becomes funnier as the years pass.

I loved those sisters. They brought us together and set silent examples of the most important values, the love of family and inseparability. Because the sisters never separated, their families never did, and we brothers, sisters, and cousins stay close in the spirit of the example they set. These women counted their blessings as the joy of being together and of keeping us together. Their blessings became ours.

But at times, intimacy can foster serious discussion. And when the chatter was misunderstood, by compromised hearing in this case, it led to bickering, and bickering led to peace. They did not speak for two weeks after.

The pies? Delicious. The day? Memorable.

PHOTO: CC. 3.0/Highcarbonsteel