To the Editor:
This summer I returned to the Vineyard with my whole family for the first time since 2005, and I couldn’t help but recall an extraordinary incident of compassion and generosity that summer that I have regretted not finding a way to acknowledge. I had just arrived on the Vineyard for a two-week August vacation with my wife and four children, and we were at one of the West Tisbury Farmers Markets, where we always looked forward to purchasing Pam’s Pesto, as my whole family loved it.
While I was in the process of buying some, I received a phone call from my sister, informing me my father had only a few hours left, and that I should return to Connecticut as soon as possible if I hoped to see him before he died. I was clearly shaken by the call, which had interrupted my purchase, and when I returned to the table to buy the pesto, the woman behind it said to me, “You’ve clearly just received a disturbing, difficult phone call. Please take the pesto as a gift from me; I hope you’ll be OK with whatever you’re dealing with.”
It was a truly touching gesture on her part, one I’ve never forgotten, and always wanted to thank her for. I don’t know if the woman was Pam herself, or someone who worked for her, but no matter who it was, I want you to know how much it meant to me at a very difficult time. I’ve tried in my own small way to make similar gestures to strangers, remembering how powerful that moment was for me. Thus, I would appreciate your publishing this letter, so she knows how much her thoughtfulness meant to me. Thanks.
Stephen Farrell
Wallingford, Conn.
