The Way the Cookie Crumbles
by Sue Gallehugh, Ph. D. and Allen Gallehugh, M.B.A.
There once was a kind woman named Samantha who loved to keep her house looking nice, but she had grown tired of living alone. Her skills in the kitchen were known far and wide, but it made her sad that no one was there to share the fruits of her labor. One particularly lonely day, after a moment of inspiration, she decided to bake herself a gingerbread man to keep her company. Samantha carefully and lovingly rolled out the dough, masterfully shaping the arms and legs before using a cookie cutter to give him a perfectly round head. She gave her gingerbread man raisin eyes and used a stiff sugar frosting to create a wide, smiling mouth. Samantha finished her creation with a neatly frosted suit festooned with real chocolate chip buttons and a pair of licorice suspenders. He was perfect!
Propping her feet up and allowing her eyes to droop for several minutes after she had popped the gingerbread man into the oven, the woman heard a pounding sound from the kitchen. Alarmed, she flung open the oven door. Much to her surprise, out sprang the Gingerbread Man!
The Gingerbread Man was seething with anger because she put him in the 350-degree oven, but he couldn't show it because his frosting smile was baked onto his face. Samantha scooped him up and held him closely, unaware of his true feelings. Elated with the outcome, she gazed starry-eyed at her confectionery creation and said, "Finally, I have someone who will share my life!"
Still steamed about the oven, the Gingerbread Man was not able to communicate his anger through his painted smile. So in frustration, he freed himself from Samantha's stifling embrace and jumped to the floor saying, "Try, try hard as you can. You can't catch me! I'm the Gingerbread Man!" Then he raced for the door.
The Gingerbread Man liberated himself by running through the door and into the street. However, his escape plan was particularly half-baked because he did not have any specific direction in mind. He just roamed the country, and his tiny cookie legs grew tired, but he finally found a place where there were others like him — Hollywood! Everyone in Hollywood was artificially sweetened, so nobody was put off by his one-dimensional personality. He even made some new friends, Gingersnap Rogers and Fred Eclair, whose shallow lives revolved around dancing all night at trendy clubs. Gingersnap was somewhat of a creampuff, and Fred was way past his shelf life.
The Gingerbread Man did his best to please Fred and Gingersnap, but they often ridiculed him because he was made with unrefined sugar. Fred and Gingersnap also mocked his poor dancing skills, since Samantha, in her haste, had given him two left feet.
Tired of his hardening existence, the Gingerbread Man sneaked into Samantha's cottage while she was fast asleep. He just lay quietly in the corner, avoiding Samantha's eyes because he feared the day she would rediscover him. However, the Gingerbread Man began to get restless, as he grew increasingly stale. He even started falling to pieces as the weeks passed.
When Samantha finally caught up with him, there was nothing left of the Gingerbread Man but a pile of crumbs on the floor, next to a dried up frosting smile. Samantha then realized that she had forgotten to give the Gingerbread Man the emotions he needed to survive in the world. She scooped up the crumbs and brought them back to her kitchen. She knew of two ingredients that were essential for his emotional health. So, Samantha added honey and molasses to give some much-needed flexibility and natural sweetness. Then she added a bendable licorice-whip mouth so he could express his true feelings. This time when she pulled him out of the hot oven, the Gingerbread Man was steaming mad again, but with emotions fully-baked in, he spoke up and told Samantha exactly where she could put her oven mitts.
Then, as he cooled off, he was able to talk with her about why he was so upset with her. Surprisingly, this ability to show anger helped to maintain the freshness in their relationship. He didn't have to smile if he didn't feel like it, and Samantha knew there would be days that she wouldn't see the Gingerbread Man's wide smile. Every day was a fresh day, and their stale relationship was transformed. So ... that's the way the cookie doesn't crumble!
Dr. Sue Gallehugh is a national speaker on creative caregiving. Dr. Gallehugh has been a marriage and family therapist for the past 17 years.
Allen Gallehugh is a writer with a degree in psychology from Baylor University in Waco, Texas and a Master of Business Administration degree from Texas A&M University.
Together they are the authors of Bedtime Stories for Grown-ups. Copyright Health Communications, Inc., 1995, and available at Barnes & Noble Bookstores or Amazon.com.
© 2000 Targeted Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved.