I found out yesterday that the bakery around the block from our house is closing, and the final two days were this week. Rarely a week goes by that we aren’t in there – E’s artwork hangs on the wall behind the counter, and F stakes out her favorite chair of her favorite table as soon as she enters the door. We missed it last Friday – the day was just too busy, and now I regret it. F and I dashed over in the rain to say goodbye and to pick up as many of our favorite things while we could. I love their rosemary bagels – it’s a love affair that I’m not ashamed to admit, and I bought eighteen of them and they reside in our freezer now. I should have bought jam – I love the jam. But I also love the savory pastries, the incredible quiches, the house made ice cream, my girls’ birthday cakes… the list goes on and on. I understand the owner’s desire to find balance in her life between the demands of a bakery and family life with two little ones. I’m happy for her, but it’s still so bittersweet. Having places like this in the neighborhood is what makes city living so good.
We ate cakes tonight (mini ones) and I thought about my favorite Thanksgiving cake that will be absent from the table this year. It has been a year of missing things – missing people that we love, saying goodbye before we were ready to. I know it’s just a bakery, but still. We kind of like life to stay the same, don’t we?