Submitted by Matt, Spokane WA
A surprise gift of breakfast pastries in honor of Sweet Old Bill
The Donut Parade has been a neighborhood fixture housed on an unassuming street corner in North Spokane since 1968. Following a sad 2+ year absence just a couple of years ago when the original owners closed up, “Donut Parade 2.0” has come back even stronger than before under new owners, still serving the fresh maple bars and other sugary fried treats that have made this place a legend in our city. And since it lies directly on the convoluted route of my commute to my day/night shift work location in Spokane Valley, it’s become my habit to start each workweek on Friday morning by picking up a fresh dozen for my co-workers, and to end the work week the following Friday by taking home a cake donut or two along with a (huge!) apple fritter for the 87-year old widow who lives across the street. She LOVES apple fritters.
This past Friday, as I perused the glass case for my frosted quarry, I was waved to the front of the line by a smiling and well-dressed woman conversing with Nathan and Christa, the husband-and-wife owners behind the counter. As I reached for my wallet, Nathan informed me that my purchase that day was covered by…. the smiling woman behind me. It took a moment to realize what was happening but became clear when she said she was buying in honor of her late father, who would have been 96 that day. Her initial plan to buy 96 donuts — which was long since gone before I got there — was now an open-ended gift to the continuing stream of customers coming through the doors that chilly morning. As I thanked her, she said her dad just LOVED Donut Parade (a sentiment I greatly share) and its sweet treats, so she was sharing this kindness in his honor. Then she handed me a business card made for the occasion, on which it simply said:
Sometimes they called me
SWEET OLD BILL
Other times they just
Used the initials
SOB
So that day instead of me gifting a treat to my elderly neighbor, it was our turn to both enjoy the generosity of a fellow donut-loving SOB!
