Walking Ayesha to Lax & Mandel

     Page One Hundred Ninety-Four.
     May I tell you about the very first time I ever bought food for a perfect stranger? Good. I didn't think you'd mind.
     It was 1980 or '81. I was either 18 or 19. I was in a habit of taking my dog for nightime walks many pleasant evenings around 9 or so. Ayesha was an auburn-furred German Shepherd. She was beautiful, well-tempered but protective, energetic, intelligent and a good sport. She'd always oblige me whenever I asked her if she wanted to take a walk.
     We got her some years earlier, when I was in the 6th grade. She was 4 years old I think. She'd been born in Israel and being auburn got the name Ayesha because Aish is Hebrew for fire. Hence: Ayesha = Fire Lady or Lady of Fire. She was an American soldier's pet while he was stationed in the middle-east. When he came home to Cleveland to attend college he had to get rid of her. (I honestly don't remember the exact story but it was something like that.) This soldier was subsequently the friend of a friend of a friend and we were looking for a dog, so viola! She really was the perfect kid's dog.
     Now, around '79 or so, I discovered Dobosh Torte. If you aren't familiar with this item, go to your closest Eastern-European style bakery and get some. Seriously. It's multiple thin layers of yellow cake, with light chocolate filling between each, then dark chocolate frosting on top. Or, some version of that. It definitely fills the hole in your soul when nothing else will do the job.

      There were a bunch of bakeries on Taylor Road, just 6 blocks from my street, that sold this stuff and one day I simply started eating it. (This part of town was heavily Jewish at the time, so these bakeries were a result of that demographic.) And somewhere along the way, I got into the habit  of going out in the evening with Ayesha, walking up to Taylor, getting a slice from Lax & Mandel Kosher Bakery, eating while walking home and continuing on about my life.
     Well, one brisk autumn's eve, I had a tag-a-long. I was a couple of blocks into my walk when a kid, 12 or 13 or so, happened to be walking by and inquired about me and Ayesha. I'd never seen this boy before, but there are well over 1 million people living in Greater Cleveland, so his unfamiliarity wasn't too surprising. He was talkative, charming and just walked right over and inquired about Ayesha's breed and so forth. Also, he thought I was in the military because I was wearing my favorite article of clothing, a WWII army dress jacket. (This was the early 80's. Reagan was all the rage and everything military was becoming extremely fashionable. My jacket was authentic, vintage and beautiful.) So this boy, who's name I uncharacteristically don't recall, let's call him PJ, strolled along with us to the bakery, chatting all the way.
     When we got to Lax & Mandel, I tied up Ayesha to the parking meter and PJ and I went inside. You already know how much he drooled while looking at all the pastries, cakes and cookies. You also already know how much money he had in his pocket. I knew what was going on so I told him to pick out anything and I'd treat him. Well, he thought I was just the greatest angel in the world.
     We talked and ate our respective empty calories, fat and sugar while walking back up Washington Blvd towards our starting point. It was a very pleasant 20 minutes, obviously or I wouldn't remember it so well. Right then and there is when I first learned how joyous it feels to unexpectedly give a stranger a gift.