A Sweet Memory

There once was a lady who made the most fabulous cupcakes. I barely remember this woman's face and in fact, cannot picture her moving or talking. She is kind of this side profile of a still figure in my mind. She was a member of our congregation in Victoria and it must be at least 25 years since she's passed away, but her cupcakes are still alive and well in the memory cells of my taste buds. There was nothing fancy about these cupcakes. I'm sure they were just a plain vanilla cake with a homemade buttercream frosting (always pink and blue) but they were a sweet heavenly treat for this little girl and her brother. That simple pleasure of coming home with a plate of Mrs. Windsor's cupcakes will never be forgotten.

The fact that my taste buds have held on to this memory for so long truly is impressive because I don't even really have a sweet tooth. Given the choice, I'd take a bag of chips over a slice of cake any day! In fact, I spent much of the week post-Halloween trading my candy for those little bags of Doritos. I say this as I am licking cream cheese icing off my lips from the slice of carrot cake I just inhaled. OK, so normally I don't eat sweets.

I made a buttercream icing once (and that's how I am pretty sure that Mrs. Windsor's icing was one and the same). Maybe I'll try it again, maybe I'll make some cupcakes for my daughter's birthday. They won't be the same, I'll tell you that! I think maybe some things are just never meant to be replicated; they have their time and place and perhaps they even serve their own purpose. Maybe the elusive cupcakes I remember fondly are my way of holding on to a certain era. Maybe I am making too much out of something so simple.

Either way, I am in awe of this sweet memory - at its vividness and at the fact that a woman I barely can visualize left such a mark on me. I think that's just neat.

Thanks for reading...