Honey toast equals problem solved, that was Grandma's favorite line to every problem. She believed thinking with a full stomach of her special toast was the first solution to every problem.
We didn't mind her boast particularly because no one seemed to ever make it like she did.
I wish Grandma was here, thought Lara as she stared at the portrait of her late Grandma on her bedroom wall. She'd have at least watched Grandma try to solve this particular problem with her food philosophy. Lara sighed, if only things were that straightforward.
Grandma had passed just a year ago and already it seemed like there were big changes on the way. Her parents didn't seem to think she could understand what was going on, but Lara had always been a perceptive young girl.
Unlike the other adults - her parents- who always treated her like a child, Grandma on the other hand had always made her feel mature beyond her age of twelve, but that was until she succumbed to her long battle with cancer.
After her passing, Lara had picked up on all the big and small changes within the house and at first she thought the absence of laughter was her family way of coping with the grief. The big changes like dad forgetting to show up for her birthday this year even though he'd never missed any in the past, or the small ones like no family breakfast.
As she stared at the picture, she could almost hear Grandma's voice in her head The family that eats together, stays together. It was almost impossible to get everyone to eat all their meals of the day together, but they'd somehow unanimously chosen breakfast as the sacred choice and stuck to it.
That was until just a month after dad had missed her birthday, this time around it was mum who claimed she was working on a project and forgot to make breakfast. At first it only seemed like a coincidence, but it soon became two missed breakfast, to three up until she lost interest in counting.
Nowadays everyone seemed to eat whenever and wherever they could, the family was fast loosing it's bond.
OMOLARA she heard her name, it was mum calling her from the living room. Mum only called her full name whenever dad was around, she must've been lost in her thoughts not to have heard his car drive into the compound.
"Grandma, I need your help" she said as she gave the picture one last look.
Lara went into the living room only to find her parents seated with matching concerned looks on their faces.
"Sweetheart, have your sit. Your mum and I would like to share something important with you" her Dad said.
It must've been very important because he was still in his office clothes and his briefcase was in front of him, which meant they were finally ready to drop the bomb. There was no way she was going to allow them give up this easily.
"No dad, I won't listen to you and I'm not giving up yet" Lara shouted and stormed back into her room.
How could they do this to her?, Didn't they realize what this might do to her?
She was still fuming after about half an hour of her parents calling her name and asking what was wrong. Someone slipped a note under her door and even though she was still angry at them, curiosity eventually won as she picked up the note to read the content.
It read:
I was looking through some of your grandma's things and I found her recipe for making her special honey toast. At first I didn't think much of it, but my mind kept drifting back to it and at a point I couldn't get it off my mind.
It reminded me of all fun she put into making us all those wonderful delicacies, her values and all that she represented to us.So I had the crazy idea to setup a Bakery and share her special toast with our customers in honor of grandma, because I noticed the vacuum her absence created when she had to move on.
I discussed it with your mum and she loved the idea so we've been working tirelessly to save up and bring this idea to reality. It was supposed to be a surprise but we couldn't think of a perfect name for the bakery, so we decided to ask for your opinion instead.
Lara was almost in tears, her parents weren't leaving her and getting a divorce. For someone who claimed to be perceptive, she'd ticked all the wrong boxes in her head.
They'd been busy all this while trying to bring back the spark they all missed when grandma left.
She opened the door to find her parents standing just outside. Lara flung herself into their arms as they all held each other in warm embrace.
"I love you both"
"We love you too" they chorused
After what must've seemed like an eternity, they broke off the embrace.
"Lara what was that outburst about earlier" her dad asked
"Umm teenage tantrums" Lara answered sheepishly
Grandma must've been laughing hard at that answer from heaven with a cup of tea in one hand and honey toast in the other. Her legacy was about to spread to many homes.