Channeling My Inner Lucille

Back in February of 1974 I started working at the National Bank of Commerce in San Antonio, Texas. I worked there for 5 years until Katie was born. One of my co-workers was Lucille. She had been widowed at a young age and never remarried. She was in her late 50s when I first met her. I learn so much from her. She not only taught me how to bake and cook by sharing her recipes with me but she also taught me about hospitality by inviting me into her home. You could go to her home for lunch on Thursday and sit down to a feast fit for royalty. Once, for my birthday, she made me a coconut cake from scratch with fresh coconut. I can still taste it it was was so delicious. She was an early riser and would often bake a cake in the wee hours of the morning, bring it to the bank via the bus (she never owned a car) and serve it to us still warm from the oven. Her cake of choice was usually coffee cake. I remember one time when she made it she had chopped up maraschino cherries and scattered them across the top. It made her giggle when she showed me that the cake was extra special that morning. This week I made her special coffee cake although I didn't have any cherries to make it extra special. Tasting that cake brought back happy memories. Food does that to me. Lucille died 3 years ago. She was 97.