BOTTOMLINE… Publisher’s Commentary By Wallace J. Allen
The passing of Dorothy Pryor Rose, known as “Mommie Helen,” was acknowledged on Tuesday at a lovefest disguised as a memorial service. The celebration of Dorothy’s life suggested that the sweetest thing at Mommie Helen’s Bakery, the celebrated home of peach cobblers, potato pies, red velvet cake and other “desert-heaven” items… That the sweetest thing was not the deserts, the sweetest thing was Dorothy Pryor-Rose herself, the Mommie Helen!
The recurring theme of the memorial service was “Dorothy was so very nice to me”… “Dorothy was the smile that never went away”… “Dorothy was the forgiver”… Dorothy was my inspiration” and on and on… But nothing I heard was as powerful as what I already knew.
You see, Ms. Dorothy had proven to be a member of the “Band of Angels” on the day that I first met her… The bakery had recently opened and we had completed our first meeting discussing advertising. I was leaving to meet my wife to take her for a very important Dr. Appointment, but my car would not start! To make a long story short, despite just meeting me, Ms. Dorothy gave me the keys to her car saying, “Go take your wife to the doctor”!
She did not buy advertising from me, but Mommie Helen’s never really needed advertising because of the constant echoes from the screaming accolades and praise that apparently are caused each time someone bites into one of her cakes, cobblers or pies.
So though Mommie Helen’s Bakery will still produce cakes, cobblers and pies that will make you scream with joy, its sweetest item, Mrs. Dorothy Rose-Pryor, has moved on to a new heavenly address! All of us who knew her will miss her, because we will surely remember her.