Generosity can be contagious, as it is in this story of giving. May Mama Luisa inspire many communities and families of the world this Thanksgiving and anytime someone needs something good to eat!
Mama Luisa's Thanksgiving
by Suzanne Down
Mama Luisa's restaurant was famous for it's pizza. It won awards and people lined up every night to get a table for supper.
The kitchen was full of flour and tomatoes, cheese and onions, peppers, mushrooms... mmm, the smells were heavenly. The kitchen was also full of song because Mama Luisa sang as she baked her pizzas.
'Pizza Pie, oh me oh my,
Good people come to meet and eat, I knead the dough to and fro,
So it may rise and bake just so
I add in Joy
For girls and boys!'
For Joy was her special ingredient. Like magic, whenever anyone bit into her pizza, they smiled and laughed. Their eyes twinkled and their cheeks became rosy!
Needless to say, Mama Luisa's was known throughout the land. She fed merchants and doctors, farmers and shoemakers. But she also always thought about those who did not have money for restaurants. The good folk who hardly had enough food to feed their families.
Every November, Mama Luisa closed her restaurant for the week before Thanksgiving. During that week she baked, and she baked, and she baked pizza pies for all the dear and poor families. She made pizza pies with sausages, pies with spinach, pies with pesto and oregano, pies for everyone's taste.
On Thanksgiving day, she loaded her cart and went through the village wherever poor families lived and knocked on each door with a gift of Pizza for Thanksgiving.
You could hear her singing as she walked through the town....
'Pizza Pie, oh me oh my,
Good people come to meet and eat, I knead the dough to and fro,
So it may rise and bake just so.
I add in Joy
For girls and boys!'
And how the families smiled and laughed, their eyes twinkled and their cheeks went rosy when she came. They all loved Mama Luisa.
They hugged her and thanked her; they named baby girls after her for her kindness. This made Mama Luisa happiest of all. For she was grateful for her good life and Thanksgiving day was her day to share her good fortune.
Mama Luisa knew the true secret of life. Be kind. Be generous. Be joyful.
'Pizza Pie, oh me oh my,
Good people come to meet and eat, I knead the dough to and fro,
So it may rise and bake just so.
I add in Joy
For girls and boys!'
One Thanksgiving, Mama Luisa was very tired. She fell asleep on her baking table as she was preparing all the pizzas.
Oh dear, oh dear!
A mouse in her kitchen ran to the streets and told the cat....' Mama Luisa is sound asleep, who will make the pizzas for Thanksgiving?'
The cat ran down the lane and told the dog... 'Mama Luisa is sound asleep, who will make the pizzas for Thanksgiving?'
The dog ran into the yard and told the boy... 'Mama Luisa is sound asleep, who will make the pizzas for Thanksgiving?'
The boy ran into the kitchen and told his mama.... 'Mama Luisa is sound asleep, who will make the pizzas for Thanksgiving?'
The mama ran to the town square and called out... 'Mama Luisa is sound asleep, who will make the pizzas for Thanksgiving?'
All the townspeople gathered in the town square, the merchants, the doctor, the farmer, the shoemaker, and said, WE WILL! For they too loved Mama Luisa.
They ran and skipped along to the restaurant, tiptoed in and set to work. Flour and cheese, and tomatoes, onions, peppers, and mushrooms flew through the air. Pizza crusts were twirled into perfect rounds, and pizzas were made while Mama Luisa slept.
In the ovens they went, and that is when Mama Luisa woke up. 'Ahhhh,' she said,' the heavenly smells of good pizza!
She looked around at the people. The townspeople looked at Mama Luisa. Then everyone smiled and sang!
'Pizza Pie, oh me oh my,
Good people come to meet and eat, I knead the dough to and fro,
So it may rise and bake just so.
I add in Joy
For girls and boys!'
They all loaded up the pizza in carts and went through the village. 'Come one, Come all,’ they called out.
Poor and rich, young and old, big and small, everyone gathered and celebrated a very happy Pizza Thanksgiving.
Mama Luisa had never been so content. Even the mouse, the cat, and the dog had yummy pizza too.
The celebration went on into the night, anyone walking near that village could hear them singing....
'Pizza Pie, oh me oh my,
Good people come to meet and eat, I knead the dough to and fro,
So it may rise and bake just so. I add in Joy
For girls and boys!'
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