'Mille

Double kisses at the kitchen table
Her father did so most times when we met. Very Italian. 

"Did your sister call?!" her mother's voice
Echoing down the stairs and around the corner

"Ma! I'm entertaining, I don't know where she is!"
She hollers back while her head was engulfed by a refrigerator door. The clank of bottles as it slams shut in time for her face to pop back up.

"I'm makin' a sammy, want one?"
She offers.
I nod enthusiastically in approval.

A master of the sliced bread
Queen of the toaster
Diva of deli
Connoisseur of cheese

She could probably turn anything into a 
Delicious
Decadent 
Sandwich!

"Coffee, sweetheart?" Her father slowly strolls over to a

Percolating coffee machine and pours me a fresh cup.

A Tigger cartoon on the front. Still a fan of Winnie the Pooh...that's 'Mille.

As I sip I play nurse to her...The sandwich surgeon. 

In a skillet she spooned butter. Sizzling and giving off that intoxicating aroma.

Nutty and brown by the time she cracked two eggs into the pan.

"Cheese? Check the top shelf in the fridge,"

I yank and the door lurches open.

I look over to the pan as I blindly wiggle my hand in her ice box.

With an artful stab, she pierces the yolks.

Like a smoldering hot sun

Melting and colliding with the surface of the pan

The yolks release themselves;

Whites and yellows swirl.

She brushed her light brown hair away with the back of her wrist

While she sliced uneven slivers of marbled cheddar - mozzarella cheese

Lovingly placing them on top of the sizzling eggs.

'Mille is older than me but never made me feel we had a difference in age.

We relied on each other in a way that two good friends should.

She had a maturity and class I admired. And deep down I guess the admiration was mutual.

"Ma! Do we have bacon?" She yelped up at the ceiling.  

A pause. Silence broken...

"No! Put it on the list, will ya!?"

A pitter patter of kitty feet

Pitch seductively walks passed me

Her feline fur coat brushes my legs.

'Mille was very tactful when assembling her sammy. 

Bread was buttered.

A salty layer of rosy deli meat draped ever so skillfully over the toasted bottom.

She put the mustard on the smoky turkey ribbons

An abrupt turmeric yellow smear on top of pink.

She shimmied a fried cheesy egg onto each mountain of turkey.

It tetter-totters, like an acrobat finding his balance at the most

Death defying angle.

"I love tomatoes, give me a sec! I'm gonna grab one from the garden,"

Not being a huge fan of tomatoes in my sandwich, I didn't object as I'm sure at this point she knew what she was doing. No one else did a sandwich like 'Mille.

We plated our collaborative dinner menu of sandwiches with Tigger mugs in hand. We pushed her screen door open and walked out to her driveway.

I sat on the grassy edge and she opened her car door to sit in her driver's seat.

She searched for a pack of cigarettes. A pre - sammy smoke.

We could burn entire evenings sitting on her driveway eating her magical marvels of bread artistry. I would chomp down on the crusty brown toast, feeling my teeth cut through the deli and the slightly crunchy salty edge of the fried egg whites. How scrumptious. 

The sharp note of ball park mustard woke my taste buds.  Squishing the tomatoes and finally the fatty nuggets of melted cheese causing my mouth to salivate. 

"Good?" She asks.

I mumble a yes with an exaggerated nod.

A lovely sandwich. Made with skilled hands.

As I devoured my last few bites, I listened to her talk. As if the sandwich was the secret pass code to her thoughts and feelings escaping her lips. I realized 'Mille, more than anything, loved expressing herself. But it took a cheesy melty mess for her to unleash those expressions to me.

She may have a thousand ideas flowing at once. All just as creative and divinely inspired as the last. I knew she of all people she could conquer big things. She already mastered the sandwich! Yet she held back...countering herself...

Ifs

Buts

Well you see...

It is in her safety and resistance that she secretly indulged in those fantastical thoughts to change the world in the most unconventional ways. 

Little does she know how deeply inspired I am by her...and her jolly laugh, whimsical ideas, and her daring sandwiches! To this day her achievments are a thing to admire and aspire to. Even if she played it safe. 

She can conquer it all, I have no doubt. If she only took on the world the same way she took on a sandwich. 

Her courage, femininity and grace. 

That's 'Mille...and she's my best friend ♥

Xoxo, 

The Girl Who Likes to Cook