All I Want For My Birthday…

My birthday cakes when I was a kid were amazing. My mother would craft them herself. Sometimes the sugar decorations would take her weeks to handcraft. She didn’t follow any patterns, just made them all from her own imagination. The cake I had for my 12th birthday stands out the clearest in my memory. It was this incredible confection of lace made from icing and hand-sculpted mini-bouquets of flowers cascading down the sides of a two tiered dream. It took her a good four weeks to make all of the lace pieces and allow them to harden and dry. I wish I had a picture of it to show you. I have never seen a professional cake which could measure up to her standards.

So, of course I wanted a clown from Baskin-Robbins. I can still picture them so clearly in my mind, those little clowns. Really just decorated scoops of ice-cream on a cookie with a cone for a hat and half a maraschino cherry for a nose. I wanted one all of my childhood and never got one.

Every Saturday afternoon, my family would walk or ride our bikes down to Baskin-Robbins and get a scoop which we would eat while sitting outside on the curb when weather permitted or squeezed into a single booth when it did not. I always looked at and sighed over the clowns. They sat there in their cheery glory, each one a different flavor, just smiling at me. My mom was as cheap then as I am now, and wouldn’t spend the extra fifty cents on a bit of icing. So, I ate my scoop of gold-medal ribbon (it’s still my favorite) and waited for the day when I could have one.

I’ve still never had one.

I know it’s silly, but it’s all I want for my birthday. B.R. is quite a drive from our house, and I just can’t justify it for a $2.00 dessert. So every year I tell my husband that this silly thing is all I want for my birthday. It’s been 12 years and I still haven’t gotten one. Perhaps he thinks I’m joking or trying to save a few bucks by asking for something so inexpensive, but it is the one thing guaranteed to bring tears of joy to my eyes because I’ve waited so long, and he will have paid attention. Let’s be honest, it’s the paid attention part that makes it a great gift. I know he reads my blog at least once a week, and my birthday is the 2nd. I’m crossing my fingers and hoping that he takes the hint. All my friends and the children have been prepped to tell him that this really is all I want for my birthday. This year, I don’t want flowers or jewelry or dinner out at and expensive restaurant….all I really want is the $2.00 clown that I never got as a child. Sorry Mom, but I really think the extra half dollar for icing is worth it.