You did convey the profound sense of loss - beautifully, memorably!
I was just feeling kind of old, with the pie-in-the-window image from yesteryear. Something about that image is so rich, connoting so much, and yet it seems that we who remember pies cooling in windows are dying off, and it's the end of an era. You're right about the freedom of the 5-minute freewrite to uncork things we've held inside. Let them out. Let the words flow. You're a pro at it!