Celebration

We have a family cookbook and the predominant number of recipes lies in the cake section. My mother excuses this saying " I LOVE cake." Cake represents celebration and that is what this post is about today.

When I turned 7, my mother made me the most spectacular cake.  It was a 3D castle cake, decorated with candies and the inside was filled with scoops of ice cream.  I remember feeling so special to have such a wonderful, magical cake.

My mother always put in hard work and long hours to make our special occasions lovely.  She knew how to mark the special moments of life. To make them different than the everyday routine.

I'm also indebted to my Ukrainian/Russian friends for teaching me how to celebrate.  Tables are jammed full of delicious and special dishes.  Vodka was brought out to toast one another.  I'm sure there were good excuses for the parties but often I felt that there was no other reason than we were alive and happy to be together.

 Last night, we celebrated the lives of our dear friends, Sasha and Oksana.  Oksana asked me not to do too much for their birthdays this year as she hesitates to celebrate when her home country of Ukraine is in such turmoil.  But the one thing she agreed to was a birthday cake. So a birthday cake we will make...And that is why I was up at 7 am to start a cake I've never made before. This cake requires a full day to make. Layers of angel food cake and baked meringue and frosting.  Oh my!

I will freely admit that I'm not the best baker; I understand beef better than butter and sugar.  But I do believe that we must celebrate life and love as often as we can.  It reminds us of the goodness of life and gives hope for better times.

Even facing this transplant, it is important to celebrate.  I will try to remember to celebrate  in the hospital too.  The day I get my transplant will be a new birthday,  when my blood counts rise, the day I get to wake up and not wonder about how my hair looks 'cause I wont have any, the day I get out of the hospital and even more, the day I get to come home.

When I was in getting a blood transfusion yesterday, one of the nurses said, "Come back after your done and we will have cake!" Don't you worry.  I will probably celebrate my new life with cake everyday!

So here is to celebrating life, even when we have to search hard to find reasons to celebrate. And here is to cake!

Kiev cake-it is delicious!