The Cookbook(Marla) I took the book off the shelf carefully, hardly believing what I was seeing. It was an old Betty Crocker cookbook, exactly like the one my mom had had. I opened it and saw recipes that I recognized; she’d let all of us use her cookbooks as we were growing up. Well, I didn’t have to think twice about my decision to buy it.

It was at home later that day that I saw a note written inside the front cover that read: Dear Pamela, we all need help sometimes. Love, Caroline H.

Well! With a note like that, it was understandable that this Pamela had donated it to a thrift store!

I kept the book for many years and enjoyed using the old, dependable recipes. Every now and then, I’d recall the note and couldn’t help but feel bad for the Pamela who didn’t keep the book. It never crossed my mind that I’d ever meet her, but that is just what happened.

I work in a nursing home. Pamela arrived one sunny day in June. Of course, I didn’t know right away that she was the same Pamela who had once owned the cookbook. That took some time. One day one of the visitors that came to see her brought her lemon bars. That afternoon, I said, “Oh, those look lovely! I have an old Betty Crocker cookbook with a recipe for lemon bars. I remember my mom making them when I was kid, but I have never made them.”

“Betty Crocker, huh?” asked Pamela with a smile. “The red-checkered book, with a picture of Betty Crocker on the back?”

“That’s the one!” I answered with a chuckle. I know that the Betty Crocker character isn’t real, but the photo is a nice touch, isn’t it?”

“Oh, I suppose it is,” answered Pamela. “I was given that book. It was so long ago, of course, but I remember getting it.”

“I have one now. I found it at a thrift store. And it -” I stopped abruptly, suddenly realizing that I was possibly talking to THE Pamela.”

“It what?” asked Pamela.

“Umm, never mind,” I said quickly. “Tell me more about when you got yours. Did you use it a lot?”

“I did not!” exclaimed Pamela. “No, I did not. It may have been full of great recipes, but the book itself was tarnished.” She laughed. “Oh, it seems so silly now. I should have been mature enough to ignore what happened, but no, I had to get the book out of my sight.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, although I had some idea of the answer.

“Well, I had been married about a year. There was a big church picnic. I made sandwiches, thinking they’d be easy for everyone to eat. The following week, a woman in our church gave me that book with a little message saying that I needed help! Can you believe that? Well, I was just fuming. You’d think that I’d just laugh, or better still, find a few recipes in there, but no.” She sighed and then continued. “No, I just refused to use it. I took it so personally and I was angry. She’d never been a friendly woman. I won’t go into all of that right now, because it doesn’t matter. Anyway, it was a few years later that I found out she gave the same book with the same message to another young woman!” She laughed. It just goes to show that what people do and say is a reflection on them, even when it feels very personal.” She looked at me then. “Would you like a lemon bar? Here I am gabbing on and on.”

“Umm, sure,” I answered. I sat down and handed one to Pamela before I took one for myself. I took a bite, wondering if I should tell her that I had her book.

“What are you thinking about?” Pamela asked.

I drew a slow breath and then said, “Pamela, what if I told you that I have your book?”

Her mouth dropped open, but she closed it quickly. After a few blinks, she said, “Are you serious? Where did you get it?”

“Found it at a thrift shop. It must have been donated a few times at a few different stores.”

“Well, this is the craziest thing!” she said. She laughed until tears came to her eyes. “Well, I suppose you just enjoy that book! And, perhaps you’d like another cookbook?”

“Sure,” I said.

“Hand me the phone, please.”

I handed Pamela the phone. “Hi. Harold? We still have a few copies of my first best-selling cookbook, right?”

“First?” I thought to myself. How many were there?

She chatted for a few more minutes. After she hung up, she said, “In a few days, one of my cookbooks that I wrote will be dropped for you.” She winked. “I had so much fun developing and experimenting and writing recipes. Three cookbooks. Not too bad, huh?” She said with a smile.

---