Jenn McKinlay: There was a long running mystery in my house growing up. My grandparents received a fruitcake--the classic Collin Street Bakery fruitcake in the iconic tin--every holiday season. It was addressed to my grandfather John P. Norris but there was never any indication of who sent it. My grandfather passed away in 1962 (years before I was born) but the fruitcake kept on coming.
My grandmother would bring it to our house every Christmas and so I began to associate this tin and its contents with Christmas. In her later years, my grandmother moved to Arizona, leaving her house to my mom and still the fruitcake kept coming even while the house was empty.
The only person who enjoyed it was my brother so he ate the lion's share. I tried it every year but never warmed up to the taste, although now I'm wondering if I should try it again just for nostalgia's sake.
Eventually, my mom sold her house and downsized into the house her parents had built. And, yes, the fruitcake kept coming.
My mother, being a librarian, naturally tried to solve the mystery of who was sending the fruitcake. She could never track them down. But then, one year in the early 2000's, the fruitcake stopped coming. My brother was the only one who missed the cake while I missed having the holiday mystery of who had been so fond of my grandfather that he/she/they continued to send him a fruitcake every holiday for forty years after he'd passed. May we all leave behind such a positive impression when we depart this mortal coil that our loved ones receive cake for decades after our departure.
How about you, Reds and Readers, any holiday mysteries to share? And what's your take on fruitcake? Thumbs up or down?
