the help

here are two of the women that have helped with the operations at my grandfather's restaurant that has been in business for 73 years. the first worked at the front of the house for a while, tending to to-go orders and other essential services. she has since moved on to beauty school, i believe. my mom told me countless times (as she was hoping to keep a good worker,) that this employee could make more money in the restaurant than she could ever make as a "beautician"... but i must cheer for the one that follows dreams instead of money. the other woman is part of the backbone of the establishment. she has been there for years, and she is the one that makes the famous spaghetti sauce and the infamous strawberry pie. the drum of sauce is forty gallons, and i honestly can't tell you how often she has to make a batch, but i can tell you that she has done a lot more stirring than most people. the strawberry pie... that is another feat of unbelievable skill and determination and loyalty. i will not get too deep into the details, but last year during "strawberry pie week" (the one week of the year that they make the best, freshest, sweetest strawberry pie ever... it was just included in Garden and Gun magazines top 50 southern sweet treats,) she, with a bit of help from her daughter, made approximately 1100 pies in five days. she has done that for a couple of decades (but only in the last five years has it really begun to reach such great heights). she is as sweet as the pie, and i thank her for being so loyal and hardworking; my grandfather's/mother's restaurant would really struggle without her at the helm of the kitchen.