Jeff Houck

The Tampa Tribune’s food writer since 2005, Jeff Houck covers the way people live through their food. He also hosts the Table Conversations food podcast and believes that everything crunchy is good.

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‘I Kept Telling Myself I Would Make It For Him Tomorrow.’ [A Peanut Butter Pie For Mikey]

Posted Aug 12, 2011 by Jeff Houck

Updated Aug 12, 2011 at 02:56 PM

I’ve got a free second. I’ll drop in on Facebook.

Click.

This friend request looks silly enough. That’s saying something for Facebook.

Click.

What’s this? “Peanut Butter Pie Friday for Mikey and Jennifer Perillo.”

Oh. Another fun idea from one of my food friends.

Click.

What does that paragraph at the top say?

“To support our friend Jennifer Perillo who’s husband passed away on Sunday. PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. Make a peanut butter pie on/for Friday and share it with your loved ones then share it here and on your blogs. Thank you. Please use twitter hashtag #apieformikey. Jennie’s beautiful post can be found on her site as well as her recipe for peanut butter pie.”

Oh no. Oh my goodness, no.

Not Jennie. We met last year at Pillsbury Bake-Off. We hit it off during a bus ride to dinner at the Ravenous Pig in Winter Park. Brooklyn brash. Mother of two. Food editor at Working Mother magazine. She bragged about her husband who was back home taking care of the kids.

Click.

There’s Jennie’s page.

It’s a photo of a man’s hand with a golden band on the ring finger.

“This is where his wedding ring used to rest.”

Oh no. I don’t want to read this. I can’t read this. This is unspeakable. It’s going to break my heart.

I can’t help it.

“Nestled on the fourth finger of his left hand is where it belongs. It was supposed to be there for decades to come, but tonight it hangs from my neck.

“I took this picture on our last date. He had just come off an insanely busy project at work. We had to cancel a family getaway because work got too busy. When the project delivered, Mikey finally took a much needed day off, having worked nine in a row.

“The moment I heard he was taking off, I cleared my work schedule. Deadlines were the least of my priorities. We finally had the chance to walk, hand-in-hand, during daylight hours—the fact that it reached 102ºF didn’t matter to me.

“I had no idea that three weeks exactly from that last date I’d be gathering with my closest friends and family to say goodbye to him. I’m trying not to think of it as such, and believe in my heart that we will meet again…some day.

“As I spend Friday reflecting on the love and life that was gone in an instant, I’d like to invite all of you to celebrate his life too. Mikey loved peanut butter cream pie. I haven’t made it in a while, and I’ve had it on my to-do list for a while now.

“I kept telling myself I would make it for him tomorrow. Time has suddenly stood still, though, and I’m waiting to wake up and learn to live a new kind of normal. For those asking what they can do to help my healing process, make a peanut butter pie this Friday and share it with someone you love. Then hug them like there’s no tomorrow because today is the only guarantee we can count on.”

Click.

I can’t breathe. There are no words. This is horrific.

Back to the Facebook page. It’s a litany of condolences.

“Dear Jennifer,” writes, Cristina Caporale Veron. “May God bless you, and your daughters. Sharing with my family a homemade Chocolate and Peanut Butter pie in memory of your Mikey? Consider it done!”

There’s another one.

“I have a dear friend, who is a wife and mother herself, and she is dying of lung cancer at home within the next 10 days,” writes Valerie Trammell. “Her family has been struggling with it for the past two months and now we are coming down to the wire. I am going to make Mikey’s pie for them Saturday as they have close friends and family visiting on Sunday. I will print out the story of the pie and give it to them as well. Thank you for sharing—the heart will go on. Just give it time and know that Mikey is enjoying this delicious effort!”

And another:

“I will make this but I have also reposted in Spanish so more people follow,” writes Dorali Garcia. I’m very sorry for your loss.”

It’s like a ribbon of emotion and food, with each person adding their own fingerprint to the tribute. Peabody Rudd made Peanut Butter Pie Cheesecake Bites. Photographer and blogger Kristina Seay made her own version over at Concrete Magnolia. So did Sacramento blogger Kim Woerz Bedwell displayed her best pie at Sacfoodies. Social media manager Lia Yeager Freitas posted a photo of she and five colleagues eating pie at work at Zooka Creative in Sunnyvale, Calif. Jaclyn Fishman at Food + Words made adorable miniature pies (pictured above).

Look at the left column on the Facebook page. More than 600 people have pledged to make a pie.

I’ll make a pie this weekend for you, Mikey. And for you, Jennifer.

Click.