How "THE Pie" Got It's Name

Ask any of my good friends about what their favorite thing is that I have cooked for them and most of them will reply, "THE pie".  That pie recipe is at the top of the list for my favorite original recipes, for several reasons. 
I developed the recipe while making it for my grandfather.  Incorporated in the recipe were some of his favorite things; apples, cranberries, port wine and walnuts.  I remembered being a young child and my Grandan showing me how he could peel an apple in a single ribbon using his pocket knife.  It's always those little personal details that end up being my biggest sources of inspiration. 
The first time I made "THE pie" for my grandfather, I was complimented by his request for a second helping.  However, my biggest reward came when my grandfather, a man of few words, patted me on the back and voiced his critique, "that's some good pie, Punkin." 
That was all the validation required to make "THE Pie" my one of signature dishes.  Any time I was invited to a dinner at a friend's house or wanted to make a dish for any special occasion, I usually went with "THE Pie"...and it quickly became the most requested. 
But there was one problem...I could not think of what to call "THE pie".  It was too much of a mouthful to call it "Apple, Cranberry, Port Wine & Walnut Pie".  Friends would usually recall it as "THE" or "THAT" pie, while smiling with their eyes closed and making a "mmmmm" sound.  This pleasurable concoction attained a most prodigious degree of fame amongst my family and friends, but what in the heck was I going to call it?
The answer came on a ski trip with the Texas Twisters in 1994.  We accompanied about 1200 other members of the Texas Ski Council on a week long vacation in Snowmass Village at Aspen, Colorado.  On the second night there, we had a pot luck supper.  I decided to bake several of "THE pies" as my contribution to the gathering. 
As I was baking eight pies in double ovens, the kitchen in our condo got a little too warm.  So I opened up the kitchen window and the scent of baking pies began to waft through the mountain air.  It didn't take long before people started coming to our door...people from my ski club and others who were literally from all over the world.  At the end of the evening, I fondly recall three of the ski club members arguing over the last piece of pie!  People often complimented my cooking, but I had never had anyone fight over it!
About 5 years after that trip, I ran into a man at another Texas Ski Council function.  He approached me and asked, "are you the one who made those pies in Snomass?" 
When I answered him, he broadly grinned and offered, "Name your price, lady. I'll pay you whatever you ask if you will just give me the recipe for 'THAT' pie!" 
Of course, I told him I would give him the recipe for free, as long as he promised to share it with someone he loved.
Then he described his memory of "THE pie".  He explained, "There's been many a night I have sat alone, closed my eyes and thought about 'THAT' pie!  It was like wishing for the company of an old lover."
AND that is how "THE pie" finally got it's name.  You can find "Old Lovers Pie" on page 34 of my cookbook, Cooking With The Carpenter's Wife!  I hope you enjoy "THE pie" every bit as much as the people who have had it before you!

Much Love & Happy Cooking, Y'all!!!