~If I had chocolate on this day, it would be melted all over my fingers and lips because I’m a chocolate kind of girl. I have two sons who feel the same way. Picture the Allegheny Mountains on a clear summer day. You can see mountain ridge upon mountain ridge and the surroundings are always bathed in rich green. Autumn makes you think you’re in a whole different area when the trees change color and everything looks like an artist’s palette. But, now we’re talking about June, my birthday month. This particular summer, our youngest son escorted us because we felt he was still too young to leave at home. He complained the whole trip. Our oldest son would drive up the next day.
~No one mentioned my birthday. Okay, no big deal, I guess. I have this birthday every year on the same date. Couldn’t someone remember? We went about our typical first day at the cabin which meant three hours of cutting grass, dusting the furniture, and making sure there were no mouse droppings all over the kitchen counters. Remember, mountains and forest equal mice and other rodents.
~Saturday our oldest son would arrive in his first, unpredictable car. Still, no one mentioned my birthday. One of our rituals, and necessities, was to go to town and buy groceries. Fine, I’d buy my own birthday cake—yellow with chocolate frosting. I didn’t need candles, but I sure needed the chocolate frosting.
~Out of cake!
~I swore to remember this the next time one of these guys had a birthday. Well, it sounded good at the time. At home we put the food away and started lunch then my son pulled in the driveway. When he got out I went to meet him and when he turned to me, he handed me a big sheet cake brought all the way from Michigan and decorated especially for my birthday! Was it chocolate frosting? No, but it was a beautifully decorated cake just for MOM, and even though the frosting wasn’t chocolate, the cake batter was. So, I had birthday wishes from my guys with candles and a chocolate cake. They all knew he was bringing me a cake and they decided to keep it to themselves so I’d be surprised. To this day, I believe that was one of my most special birthdays.
This week’s prompt was to write a 400 word memoir piece using one of the following. –wine, coffee, or chocolate. For more information and to read more pieces, visit Remember Red at Write on Edge.
. I know how he felt. I do. Teachers want to leave a lasting impression on their students. I know this to be true from experience. Yes, Mr. Somers was my first inspiration/mentor to help me realize I was a writer, even at age thirteen. If you ever come across the person who inspired you, please do let them know.
Mary J. McCoy-Dressel 
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