Old lady magic

By Mara Richards Bim

When I was a little girl,

Grandma Luella had a church friend – Ruth Mary.

Ruth Mary made the best dessert.

At least it seemed like the best dessert to me.

Gooey Butter Cake cures boredom, mends broken hearts,

removes melancholy, and fixes anything else that ails you.

It has something to do

with old lady magic.

Of course, old lady magic is just a very potent variety

of what all magic is – love and prayers.

Old ladies like Luella and Ruth Mary

are especially adept at old lady magic.

They are kind of like witches.

Or Saints.

Someday I hope to be

as magical as they were.

Grandma Luella’s spirit still visits

from time to time

to check up on me and my little girl.

And then I pull out Ruth Mary’s recipe

For Gooey Butter Cake –

carefully transcribed in Grandma Luella’s handwriting.

I smile and say a prayer of gratitude

that my little girl gets to taste their magic, too.

Gooey Butter Cake was written by Mara Richards Bim and originally published in House of Nourishment, a publication of Retreat House Spirituality Center. To procure a hard copy of this delicious cake recipe and read other sacred stories from our community, you can purchase your copy here. Mara is a mother, a wife, an award-winning theater artist, spiritual director-in-training and ministry partner of Retreat House.