Birthday Cake

And I quote:

"Personally, after the age of twenty-five, I don't think a person need a birthday cake."

That's what she said.  She being a Fo*d Netw*rk favorite daughter.  I won't name names....but she rather resembles a cheery garden gnome and hob nobs with The Hamptons set.  She is the antithesis of another Fo*d Netw*rk sweetheart, who reminds me of the kids that used to come to school without having taken their VERY much needed ADHD meds!  I found that I needed both of them in my culinary life for balance.  ANYWHOOOO....I was rather taken aback when she made that pronouncement about birthday cakes.  This particular episode was themed around her husband's birthday and the surprise dinner she was preparing for him.  The dessert, in lieu of birthday cake, was some sort of orange sponge cake trifle.  To be quite honest, after she said what she said about birthday cakes, I turned the channel.

Here's the deal, she may not choose a birthday cake as part of her birthday celebration, but it seems a bit airish to make that sort of pronouncement for the rest of human kind.  Granted, my birthday cake at forty three really shouldn't resemble a three year old's cake....but if I want a bright, colorful, princess explosion themed birthday confection, then I should be allowed to have that...without fear of judgement or recrimination by those who have lost touch with their inner children.  A person's birthday is the chance to celebrate life...the years past and the years to come.  Life is so short.  Our time on this spinning ball is just a vapor and uncertain.  One more year sounds like a good reason to celebrate.  The alternative to one more year of life is pushing up daisies!  And dead folks can't eat cake.

We grew up poor.  I don't say that as casually as some do, because we truly were.  It makes my heart hurt to realize just how strapped we were.  My children, PRAISE GOD IN ALL HIS SOVEREIGNTY AND BOUNTY have never known that.  Be that as it may, birthdays were still pretty special around our house.  The birthday girl was excused from chores for the day.  The birthday girl also got to choose a special meal for Mama to cook. A few times, we were even lucky enough to choose a restaurant for our birthday meal.  Don't get any fancy ideas...the choices were limited to one of the local Coney Island joints or the KM*art cafeteria or B*g Boy.  For us, that was a big deal.  There was always cake and Mama made it.  I seem to remember a lot of pineapple upside down cakes for my birthday.  She makes a really good one.  Life, as hard as it was, was worth celebrating.

No, you don't have to mark the yearly event with a cake.  But if you don't, it should be because you chose not to.  Not because society says that you are no longer special or worth celebrating after a certain age.  Personally, I think a celebration is better when there is cake.

As long as it's not coconut.