Life Stories

Excerpt from Life Stories
Let Them Eat Cake

   She looked on with pride as she put the finishing touches on the cake. The new recipe had worked out well. The cake was light as a feather and now covered in beautiful swirls of whipped icing. She was confident the family would be thrilled to have a special dessert for dinner that night.
   She rarely baked in the middle of the week. With her busy life, there just wasn’t time. Saturday was the day reserved for baking, and whatever was made would usually have to last the whole week. But she managed some extra time this morning and thought a treat would be nice.
   Extra time, now that was a luxury. With five children, there was never a moment of the day when something was not scheduled or last-minute things sent her scrambling. Not to mention, four of the children were growing boys. Feeding them was a full-time job in itself. The days of cooking and expecting leftovers for an easy meal the next day were long gone. Instead, every scrap of food was devoured at meal times. She laughed and shook her head as she pictured her oldest son at dinner the previous night. He tipped back the huge soup pot and drained out the last dregs into his mouth. Yes, that was normal in the house now.
   She smiled as she thought about the amount of food going through her kitchen. She would rather have them eat well and enjoy their meals than sit and complain about what was for dinner. Many of her friends had to deal with picky eaters or constant complaining about what was on the table. She did not have that problem.
   Her mother was an excellent cook, and that skill had been passed on to her. As a result, she took a lot of pride in the food she put on the table and always strived for it to be the best possible.
   With one last check of the cake, she nodded in satisfaction, then put it away in the pantry to be brought out as the surprise dessert.
   Later in the day, the family gathered in the kitchen for dinner. There was the usual joking and play fighting from the boys. Again, she gave the warnings not to fight in the kitchen with hot pots around. With the mention of hot pots, suddenly, all attention was focused on what was in those pots. The older boys tried to lift lids to see what was for dinner, and she playfully slapped their hands away. She shook her head. The evening ritual was always the same, but moments like these bonded the family. Finally, everyone settled down in their seats, and dinner was served.
   As everyone ate the meal, the boys dominated the conversation with their jokes and silly stories from the day. Her husband asked for seconds which started her last round of dividing what was left of the food so that everyone was satisfied. She smiled in appreciation as they all told her what a wonderful dinner it was. Seeing the polished plates was proof enough that everyone once again enjoyed their meal.
   She then spoke over the roar of conversation and laughing, telling them there was more tonight. She made dessert. That immediately got the attention of everyone around the table. Instructing her husband to get it from the pantry, she waited for the surprised reactions. She was not disappointed.
   Her husband proudly raised the beautiful cake in the air. Holding it by the stem of the cake stand, he marveled at how light the cake was. Then he swished it through the air in a wide arc to demonstrate how cloud-like it was. She started to object but was quickly drowned out by the cheers coming from her boys. Egged on by the reaction of his sons, her husband once again swished the cake through the air in a deep arc. As the cake reached the top end of the arc, the plate stopped, but the cake kept going. It sailed across the kitchen, dripping icing as it went until it came into contact with the wall. It clung there for just a moment before it started a slow slide down the wall to the floor.
   The kitchen was silent. The first time that ever happened at a meal.