Tippin’s pies are always good, but this one for my best friend was especially sweet

We met in Mr. McNulty’s eighth-grade math class in Gardner. On a sky blue October day, a bright amber-eyed girl burst into the classroom. My teacher waved the new girl toward an empty desk by mine. As she pretended to sit on my lap, her bouncy brown hair touched my shoulder. “Hello, Sunshine! I’m Lisa.” She pointed to my navy blue Converse sneakers. “I’m dying to get a pair of those.”

Mr. McNulty pushed his thick, black-rimmed glasses up his nose and cleared his throat.

Lisa popped out of my chair and scooted over to the neighboring empty seat next to me. “Oops, well.” She threw her hands up in the air. “I guess I got that seat wrong.”

“Well. Now, that is a deep subject.” Mr. McNulty said without blinking his bright blue, amused eyes.

I loved Lisa at that moment. That was the start of our never-ending run-on sentence relationship that has continued throughout our lifetime.

Forty-eight years later, I called from California to wish Lisa a happy 60th birthday. For every Mother’s Day and birthday, she splurged on a Tippin’s strawberry pie.

“Did you enjoy your birthday pie?”

“Not this year,” Lisa’s voice lowered in accepted disappointment. “We were out of town and returned too late to run by Tippin’s.”

“What? No pie?” I shook my head in disbelief. “It’s your 60th!”

She told me it was fine because she had eaten one for Mother’s Day a week before. We hung up, promising to talk soon.

I’m going to send Lisa one.

I jumped on Costco’s website to order a strawberry pie. They had a cream cheese version, but it wasn’t Tippin’s fresh strawberry one Lisa and I loved growing up in Kansas.

I’ll order her one from Tippin’s.

I scanned Tippin’s website but couldn’t find any place to purchase the pie. In desperation, I sent an email to Tippin’s generic email, explaining the situation and asking to buy Lisa a pie. I didn’t know how it would get delivered, but I was hoping for a miracle.

The next day was my sixth-grade class’s field trip to San Diego. I was up early with a million things to accomplish when I glanced at my phone. I had a missed call from a Kansas area code number that I didn’t recognize. I returned the call.

“Suzy?”

“Who is this?” I said in my best teacher’s voice.

“This is Robin Venn, president of Tippin’s Pies. I want to deliver a strawberry pie to your friend, Lisa. If you’ll give me her address, I’ll be there at 11:00 today.”

My mouth opened, but I had no words. “What? Who does that? Let me give you my credit card.”

“No, it’s on Tippin’s. Lisa should have her birthday pie.”

I fell over myself with thank-yous before I told Venn, “I’ll set up your pie delivery as a surprise. Lisa’s daughter’s home from college.” In disbelief, I factored in the time difference, smiling that Lisa would have her pie in less than two hours.

Five minutes later, my students arrived for the field trip. I told them that every day I say, “Something great will happen to me,” and every day I also say, “I will do something great for someone else.” They looked confused, wondering what in the world I was saying had to do with our field trip. I explained what had happened, and continued, “Today is the day that I get the privilege to do something great for my junior high friend.”

Right on schedule, the Tippin’s president delivered a surprise strawberry birthday pie to a shocked Lisa, and he also gave her a coupon for another complimentary pie. He had to show Lisa his business card for her to believe he was actually the company’s president.

On the day of my field trip, something great happened to me, and at the same time, I did something great for my childhood bestie. Tippin’s Pies, through Robin Venn, showcased the best in the human spirit by going above and beyond what a president and his company normally do — and in the process, provided Lisa with her strawberry pie and me with my miracle.

Suzy Ryan and her husband live in Carlsbad, California, where she teaches at Carlsbad Seaside Academy. Two years ago, she was teacher of the year. Her novel “Saving Summer” is out in spring 2023 about growing up in Garnder.