When a friend of ours from Vancouver, T. Paul, passed away, I hadn’t been to a funeral or memorial in a very long time and I wasn’t sure what to expect. I didn’t know whether it would be dressy or casual. I didn’t know if there would be a formal presentation or if we would just all hang out or what. It took me a long time to get ready that day.
The memorial was hosted at a friend’s home, and the attendees were each asked to bring an item to share. I didn’t know what to bring, but I had never tried to make butter tarts and I thought they would be perfect. I got all the ingredients together and made a huge batch. They weren’t just good — they were a miracle! I felt like a domestic goddess! I was so proud of myself for learning how to make them for the first time! I was super excited to share them with my friends.
On the morning of the memorial, I carefully packed them into a big huge box and waited for my ride to pick me up.
At the time I didn’t own a car, so my friend, Bill McNamara, offered to carpool. I was the last person to get picked up. As I was cramming myself and my huge box of butter tarts between two other people into the back seat of Bill & Diana’s 2-door Volkswagon Rabbit, Bill said, “Whatcha got there, Padge?” To which I proudly exclaimed, “I made Butter Tarts!” Bill raised his eyebrows and without skipping a beat, he said “You can’t get drunk on butter tarts, Padgett.”
Recently, a staff member at my school (who happened to be Canadian) suddenly and tragically passed away. I was asked to bring a dessert item to share at his memorial. The choice was obvious! I had to make butter tarts. I told my classmates the story above and Izzy and Kim made this for me! What a thoughtful and amazing present 🙂
Leanne Padgett 