Mmmm....cake

Most of the time spent at a hospital is extremely unpleasant.  Can you imagine living in a hospital for months at a time?  Unfortunately, many of the children I visit at the cancer center are growing up in the sterile, unwelcoming, cold setting of medical center.  It breaks my heart to think about how awful it must feel to be stuck in a hospital bed everyday while other children their age are growing up in their homes, going to school, and playing freely with their friends.  The difference is night and day.  I see the sadness in their eyes when their siblings come to visit showing off ribbons, trophies, and awards they have received because they live a "normal life".  I feel the torment they go through as their families flip through pictures of their parents and siblings at sporting events, school carnivals & fairs, and pictures surrounded by all of their friends.  I know how much they hurt inside because they desperately want to be at those celebrations.  I often experience that same pain.

Instead of letting myself, and the children wallow in these melancholy feelings I try to bring fun and excitement to them as often as I can.  Recently, I organized a cake decorating day.  I reserved the community room for the entire day.  I informed the parents, doctors, nurses, and administration of my plan.  They all agreed it was a fantastic idea, so I made it happen.  Originally, I was going to try and bake all of the cakes myself.  I quickly realized that I was bitting off much more than I could chew.  Alternatively, I decided to call some bakeries in the area.  I explained my concept to the bakers and asked if they could help.  Many of them said they would love to help, but there would be a considerable fee.  I know that I could not afford to pay for the cakes myself, and I would never ask the families to pay.  They have enough on their plates as it is.  My last call was to a small bakery near my house.  Thankfully, they offered to help, free of charge.  All they of me asked was to tell my friends and family, no matter the occasion, if they need a cake, or baked goods to go to their bakery.  It was a deal!  They would have twelve 10-inch round cakes ready in two days.  They also covered them all with a thin layer of fondant in order to make them easier to decorate.

The morning of the "Cake Day" I was running on sheer adrenaline and excitement!  The bakery was on the route from my house to the hospital, so my medi-van driver agreed to swing by the store with me to pick up the cakes.  His only condition was that he got a slice of cake.  I was more than happy to oblige.  I asked the parents to bring in some decorating supplies to share with everyone.  Walt(my medi-van driver) bought some goodies to garnish the cakes with at the bakery too.  The last stop was Target to get some aprons, stickers(so we could put their names on each apron), and table cloths.  Each stop filled me with more elation.  I could not wait to surprise the kids!

Once we arrived at the hospital, I sprinted up to the children's floor community room.  Walt, a few nurses, medical assistants, and myself set up for the big reveal.  After everything was organized, I walked down to the patient rooms.  I popped my head in and said "Get ready to get messy!"  The children had no clue what was going on.  Their parents and nurses helped them out of their beds, into their slippers, and walked them down to the community room.  The minute I opened the door, the kids squealed with excitement!  I told them they each had a cake to decorate, and we were going to decorate a few others for the doctors and nurses.  The entire afternoon was filled with laughter, dancing, frosting, edible glitter, sprinkles, etc.  For those few hours I saw no pain, no sadness, no tears, and no fear.  They were all kids, just being kids.  It was the most beautiful sight.

As the children finished up their masterpieces we had the "parade of cakes".  We all walked around the room to view each cake.  The children got to explain what they made and why they decorated the cake the way they did.  We must not forget the best part...the cake tasting!  We sliced into the cakes and devoured each delicious bite.  As guaranteed, Walt got a big ole piece of his favorite double chocolate cake!  By the time the afternoon was over, we were all covered head-to-toe in frosting and other various toppings.  It was a sticky, messy, sugar-filled afternoon, but it was a blast!  

Each of the children got to keep their personalized aprons, and got to take another piece of cake back to their rooms for later.  The rest of the cake we shared with the floor doctors, nurses, and maintenance crew.  Lord knows they had quite the mess to clean up!

That day will always remind me no matter how difficult life gets, we have to keep smiling and laughing.  Live for the moment.  The rest will fall into place when the right time comes.  I live each day by following my three L's...LIVE the life you want to live, LOVE those you want to love, and LOOK the way you want to look.  Don't let anyone other than yourself dictate who you are.