It all started at age two. My dad, my sister and I would roll up to the Dunkin’ Donuts in Ridgefield, Connecticut—pajamas and all. As you could imagine, my dad had his hands full with two girls running wild in a donut shop. My sister, age seven, would stand on the table while waiting to order and I would stand there holding my stuffed animal and “blankies.”
The Olden Days
Back in the day, our Sunday order was very simple. I got a strawberry sprinkled donut and my sister would order a jelly donut. We would also split a plain bagel with cream cheese and that was that.
After countless excursions of begging for a chocolate frosted donut, my dad finally gave into my sister. He had told her over and over again that the chocolate would give her a stomachache because it was overboard, but she refused to listen. As you would have predicted, my dad was right… she got a stomachache.
A Change of Heart
Then came the elementary and middle school days. The Dunkin’ had moved up the street and it was a traumatizing moment for all of us. And, along with this major change, my chocoholic ways gotten the best of me. Say hello to the obsession with the chocolate glazed donut (don’t worry, I didn’t get a stomachache) and the glazed donut.
After that, the dynamic-sister duo got hooked on coffee Coolattas—and by “hooked” I mean that each of us downed our own medium sized coolatta every Sunday alongside our own bagels AND donuts. Cue the #800lbwomen.
The BFAST Sammie Tradition
Our order became quite extensive while my dad stuck with his usual: sausage, egg, and cheese on a French roll with a small French vanilla coffee with cream and a little bit of sugar. We all parked our butts in the back bed of the truck and scarfed down our meals.
Once we were both older, the tradition continued. Instead of the coffee Coolattas, we became addicted to iced coffee with caramel or French vanilla swirl. My routine ways got the best of me and I continued to order my everything bagel toasted with cream cheese and went back to my classic strawberry sprinkled donut ways.
Along with this, it soon became tradition to receive the Valentine’s Day-themed donuts from our #1 Valentine: Dad. He would pick up half a dozen strawberry frosted heart-shaped donuts with cream AND the chocolate frosted heart-shaped donuts with brownie inside. These flavors completely slayed the donut game.
Separation Anxiety With a Side of FOMO
Upon leaving for college, my sister, clever enough, downloaded the app on her phone and connected it to the card so she still schemed her way into some Dunkin’ every once in a while. She had a major case of FOMO and the Sunday crew was not the same without her.
When I left for college five years later, one of the hardest things to be separated from (as silly as it sounds) were my trips to Dunkin’ with my dad just chatting and eating our favorite meal together.
The girls and daddio—that was the way it was every single Sunday, and still is to this day. When we are all home together now, it is one of the things I look forward to the most.