Lessons on Love - Happy Anniversary

Mom went to great lengths to please Dad. At Christmas time she would buy a fresh coconut, get a hammer and nail and make a hole in the coconut eyes. She would drain the milk and save it. Then she would whack and chisel away at that coconut for what seemed to me like an eternity. She then would remove the shell, trim off the brown, and grate it all by hand. Next she would make a white cake. I don't recall if it were from scratch or a mix. Then the icing had to be made by boiling sugar and egg whites for just the right amount to time, followed by serious whipping and beating. The coconut milk was poured onto the naked cake, followed by the seriously beat icing, then the hand grated coconut. This tradition meant a lot more to my parents than me. But it was a fine example of the effort you put forth to please someone you love.

I'll never forget the year she put the cake on the dryer in our garage because it was cold out there and the fridge was full of other Holiday goodies. I had a pet cat which stayed in the garage during the coldest weather. Well that cat somehow managed to get the tupperware lid off the coconut cake. Mom broke down and cried when she discovered the cat got into it and ruined her offering of love for Dad. But you know what she did the next day? She bought another coconut and all the ingredients and made it all over again because she knew how much the cake meant to Dad. Thanks Mom for the excellent marriage lesson. I miss the cake too.

And Happy would be 44th Anniversary.