SPECIAL DELIVERY

In any community, new moms and their families can benefit from acts of cooking kindness.

Thoughtful meals dropped off by neighbors and friends make life’s difficult moments so much easier.

In the small farming town of Nipawin, Saskatchewan, where I was raised, it’s not uncommon for the matriarchs of our little slice of prairie heaven to prepare meals for neighbors. When my father passed away four years ago, I walked into my mother’s kitchen to find her fridge bursting open with enough food to feed the entire block. In that spirit, when my co-worker had a baby, I prepared lasagna, salad, bread and chocolate cake. She was so touched by the gesture, she cried. If memory serves correctly, I cried, too.

A few months later when my childhood friend had her daughter, I repeated the meal for her family. Despite being invited in, I never stayed longer than to drop off the plates and share a brief, heartfelt hug with my friends. Fast-forward to the birth of my second son, during the hottest week of August on Prince Edward Island. The afternoon we came home from the hospital, I took a nap and did not hear my dogs bark when the doorbell rang.

When I awoke, I walked into the kitchen to a freshly baked lemon meringue pie. My next-door neighbor, Donna, had made it when she saw us pull into the driveway. It was so wonderful to be blessed by her thoughtfulness. That she would bake a pie on such a hot day is a testament to what a great woman she is.