Upside Down Pizza and an Expensive Coat

Lynae N.

November 1, 2009 - 8:05 PM

It is always fun to joke about being a poor college student. I admit that there are times when money is really tight and I have found my husband, daughter, and myself having to be creative to make ends meet and come up with new solutions to familiar problems. One of my more famous examples was the creation of whatever-we-have-in-the-cupboard soup. You may be able to guess the story behind this creation. It started when I walked into the kitchen with a hungry family too feed and a collection of random bits and pieces of ingredients spread between our empty freezer, refrigerator, and cupboards. I stood there with all the doors open, hand on my hip, and brain searching. I knew I was going to have to make something work, so I got messy and I got creative. The result was whatever-we-have-in-the-cupboard soup and it was delicious! Today we know this as our own version of Taco Soup and have often handed out recipes to admiring friends and families. It was a solution gone right.

This was over a year ago now, however, and I am thankful to report that my family has always been provided for, even in my days of necessary culinary experimentation. I know not all are as fortunate and I have seen increasing numbers of cold hungry individuals collecting on the street corners looking for some kind hand outs. There is so much need out there and that need and the discrepancy of my life and the lives of so many others who do not have a warm car do drive by the street corners in, much less a house with a roof to be driving home to doesn't set well with me.

It is important for you to understand this discrepancy is an active struggle in me to understand the story I have to share with you. Like anyone else, while I do have my basic needs met, I still have things that are in poor repair and need to be taken care of. For example, the bottom heating element in my oven went out a month and a half ago. Time passed and it wasn't getting fixed and I had honestly forgotten about the problem. That is, I forgot about it until my parents came over and I went to stick a pizza in the oven to bake and only the top half of our dinner cooked. I was not quite sure what to do about the situation but my Dad suggested we flip the pizza upside down on the pan and finish cooking it that way. Brian and I weren't so convinced it would work, but I stood there for a minute and then called on my Hispanic heritage saying, "I am a Mexi-can not a Mexi-can't" and with that we flipped the pizza over to bake upside down. I was amazed at the results, we had a perfectly cooked, crispy crust pizza; another creative success. This was a few weeks ago and our oven still hasn't been fixed. This is an example of what I consider a real need.

Now, even more recently I had a day where everything I touched seemed to break. My winter coat ripped, my brief case broke, and then the coat I wore to supplement my warm coat ripped also. I am using an older, less professional bag for classes and client now so that isn't an issue. But the coat, I needed a new coat for sure. I am not at all a fan of the cold and oversized thin coats from previous years were just not going to work.

Ok, so there's one more piece of the story you need to know for all of this to make sense. A few months ago Brian and I were at Macy's window shopping to pass the time before a meeting. We were looking at the coats and he spotted the most gorgeous coat. He instantly decided then that I needed to end up with that particular coat. I was flattered at his wanting to spoil me, but the price tag was not something I was comfortable with. We left that day and I figured the coat was fun to try on and play dress up, after all, who would spend $250 for a coat that was on sale? Not me!

But now I needed a coat. Brian, in his loving and generous heart reminded me of the coat that he spotted and loved. He was at home sick with my daughter who was also sick this past week and informed me he wanted me to go buy it since he wasn't able to get it for me. I was in shock! He had just spoiled me with new boots earlier this month and I have never spent that much money on anything for myself before. Instantly my anxiety level went through the roof.

I got in the car in the morning to go to my internship and passed a half a dozen freezing individuals on the streets, all of whom would have benefitted from the money I had just been gifted for the coat. Now I was anxious and feeling guilty. I went back to Macy's determined to find a less expensive coat to substitute the coat I came for. I didn't find anything I found comparable so I grabbed the coat and got to the register. I couldn't bring myself to buy it and left it at the counter. I called my husband bothered and frustrated over the whole coat situation. I ended up spending that entire day running back and forth from one store to my internship site to see clients and back to another store. By the end of the day I was so fed up with the internal dilemma that I just wanted to go home and forget it all, but I was really cold in my not sufficient coat. I went back to Macy's one last time and almost turned away at the door. I made it in to the store and to the escalator. I almost turned back again. But I pressed on. I went up the escalator, blood pressure rising and feeling that the anxiety would bring me to tears soon. I kept thinking about all of the cold men I'd seen standing in the rain with their cardboard signs and here I am, a college student buying a ridiculously overpriced frivolous coat. Not only that, but my oven was still not working right and my entire family was having to deal with the consequences of not being able to have any meals that required the oven. My daughter needs a keyboard for piano and voice lessons, Brian a suit etc. and I did not need an expensive coat. I made it up the escalator, almost turned around and went back down. I didn't. I made it to the coats, grabbed the gorgeous coat and bought it. I went down the escalator and out the door and stopped. I wanted to turn around and return it, but somehow I made it to the car and drove home.

My husband was waiting for me, wanting to see if I was able to buy the coat. He looked admiringly and simply kissed me and told me he loves to see me spoiled. Brian is good for me and good to me. I appreciate his love and generosity in all forms. He helped me work through the issues I was feeling that day in that simple moment. It was not a gift out of necessity, but of a genuine desire to bless me. And it was a blessing, and one that I never would have done for myself, EVER. But I learned from this experience and I get to beam and remember what my hubby did for me every time I wear that coat or get compliments on it. Thank you Brian, you truly are the best husband in the world!