Love, Loss, & Apple Pie: A Thanksgiving Story

On a warm summer night, in our final meal together before he withered away into someone else, my father and I went for pie. It was late July 2015, and he was visiting me in Los Angeles. Over a week, I had ferried him to a legendary deli on Fairfax, a pancake temple in Hollywood, and a chic outdoor dinner in Malibu. He appreciated my efforts, but on our last evening before he flew home, I acquiesced to his favorite genre, so we visited Pie Hole, a hip dessert spot in L.A.’s Downtown Arts District. As we stood before the clear display case, a glistening array of artisan options tempted us: Mexican Chocolate Pie, Bananas Foster Pie, Earl Grey Pie, Maple Custard Pie, plus Chai Cheesecake. I’d watched many salivating customers deliberate for long minutes before this very case, but Dad reached a verdict almost immediately: “I’ll have Apple Pie.” He commanded a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a root beer, completing the all-American order. We took a small table outside. [View in Browser]( [Esquire]( [SHOP]( EXCLUSIVE [SUBSCRIBE]( [Love, Marriage, Loss, and Apple Pie]( [Love, Marriage, Loss, and Apple Pie]( On a warm summer night, in our final meal together before he withered away into someone else, my father and I went for pie. It was late July 2015, and he was visiting me in Los Angeles. Over a week, I had ferried him to a legendary deli on Fairfax, a pancake temple in Hollywood, and a chic outdoor dinner in Malibu. He appreciated my efforts, but on our last evening before he flew home, I acquiesced to his favorite genre, so we visited Pie Hole, a hip dessert spot in L.A.’s Downtown Arts District. As we stood before the clear display case, a glistening array of artisan options tempted us: Mexican Chocolate Pie, Bananas Foster Pie, Earl Grey Pie, Maple Custard Pie, plus Chai Cheesecake. I’d watched many salivating customers deliberate for long minutes before this very case, but Dad reached a verdict almost immediately: “I’ll have Apple Pie.” He commanded a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a root beer, completing the all-American order. We took a small table outside. [Read More](   [The Most Random Things On the Internet That Make For Great Holiday Gifts]( [The Most Random Things On the Internet That Make For Great Holiday Gifts]( They definitely won't own these. [Read More]( [Save Up to $600 on Our Favorite Mattresses During Saatva's Black Friday Sale]( [Save Up to $600 on Our Favorite Mattresses During Saatva's Black Friday Sale]( The best sleep of your life is at its best price of the year. [Read More](     [The 48 Best Movies of 2023 (So Far)]( [The 48 Best Movies of 2023 (So Far)]( There’s been a lot of chatter this year about superhero fatigue. Are audiences tired of all the capes and wham-bam-punch stuff? Or, are critics just tired of writing about them? Despite some prominent flops, it’s looking like we’ll finish the year with three superhero flicks in the box-office top 10. That’s a lot of revenue for a failing genre. Possessing no special powers myself, I don’t know what the future holds. But I do know this: It’s certainly fun to think about superheroes being supplanted by—well, anything else! [Read More](   [There Are Only Two Options Left In Ukraine]( [There Are Only Two Options Left In Ukraine]( Nearly two years after the Russian invasion, I traveled the country to pose a fundamental question to the Ukrainians I met: How does this end? [Read More]( [Hoka Has Never Had This Many Sneakers On Sale]( [Hoka Has Never Had This Many Sneakers On Sale]( Black Fridays deals are serving at up to 40% off. [Read More](     [How to Love Your Parents Even If You Hate Their Politics]( [How to Love Your Parents Even If You Hate Their Politics]( Many people I know have parents who are suffering from Early Fox News Dementia, ranting about the perfidy of Anthony Fauci and the possibility of catching critical race theory from an open jar of mayonnaise. But at the same time, they want to give their children parental advice and guidance, though now through the prism of their separate bespoke realities. They want to remain parents, but only on their own racist and hurtful terms. My counsel to these children—stemming from what my closest friends and I experienced, all of us immigrants in our forties from different parts of the world—is to orphan yourself. [Read More](   [ESQ 1933 Jewelry]( [LiveIntent Logo]( [AdChoices Logo]( Follow Us [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Notice]( | [CA Notice at Collection]( Esquire is a publication of Hearst Magazines. ©2023 Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This email was sent by Hearst Magazines, 300 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019-3779