Birthday Boy

We’re celebrating Bacon’s birthday with our family tradition, birthday cake for breakfast. His choice this year, German Chocolate. When your birthday begins with presents and cake, no matter what else happens, you’ve already had a great day.

My mother was the a middle child of ten. With a business to run and a platoon of children, Grandma didn’t have a spare second, but she never forgot a birthday. Every year, my mother looked under her breakfast plate for a special surprise. I can imagine all of my aunts and uncles as children sitting around my Grandma’s battleship-sized dining room table. They’d tell my mom, “Check under your plate.”

Grandma had over thirty grandchildren. On my birthday, I could count on a card from her arriving in the mail, usually with a five dollar bill inside. After Grandma died, my mother found a date book in her belongings. In my Grandma’s cursive next to the days of the year were the names of those she loved. The full pages speak well of her life.The book’s mine now. I love having something of hers that’s so personal.

Our tradition is adapted from my grandma’s card under the breakfast plate. Earlier, when we were out shopping for Bacon’s gifts, my daughters reminded me. “You’re baking tonight, aren’t you? We need birthday cake for breakfast.”