Zero Calorie Donuts

Tasty memories.

It was Sunday, and Sunday was donut day. You could smell the wafting across the greenbelt early in the morning. Sunday also meant getting ready for church, and a scuffle for our large family to pile into the car for morning service without breakfast. You could not eat anything before communion, so the donuts meant temptation before and sinful deliciousness after. We seldom had sweets in our house so Sunday was a special, indulgent occasion. We would take turns going to the factory that was in a small office park close by. It was a strange adventure for a little one. No matter how many times I did it, it was always new. To walk all by yourself across the green through the multitude of buckeye trees and a dandelion carpet—to meet the grey door with a sign that said Prestige Donuts, and walk into a whole new world. It was a factory. A factory with workers at conveyor belts on a Sunday in a somewhat dark environment, wearing clear gloves that whisked to picked up the sweets and pack them into boxes. My eyes would glaze over a bit in wonder. It was a whole new world to me. A world of people I only saw on Sunday’s, occasionally. For me it was so out of the ordinary...today it’s the kind of thing kid’s can see on TV. They show how things are made and it’s not unusual, but then, it was a complete sensory experience. The trip across the green for a dozen or two of the freshest donuts you’ve ever eaten…right off the belt, the smells, the new world, carrying the warm bags back with delight for the family to share…to a little one, these are memories that stay with you forever.

Getting a donut today is as common as common can be. There are so many flavors and versions that it’s hard to know which way to go. It does not cross my mind to stop for a glazed donut anymore, but today the memory came wafting and I took a short trip in my mind back to all of it.

I don’t know about you, but I miss some of these private, larger than life experiences. Everything is so in your face that you don’t have to really wonder about anything. It’s all out in the open…but I still live somewhere inside the empty space of a donut hole, in a world of wonder where the space is left for me to define what goes in the middle. This place where the sweet spot is in my soul and has zero calories.

That’s a dessert I can recommend.