A Special Birthday Post

We all have traditions, whether they be age-old family rituals or something new and special that starts by happenstance. People have traditions for holidays, vacations, and even for their savored Saturday mornings (i.e. chocolate chip pancakes and Saturday morning cartoons). I freaking love traditions! I love that they exist.

For instance, my birthdays growing up always came with a cake from my Dad from a particular Omaha bakery called Pettit's Pastry. In fact, my two brothers also received these special confections on their birthdays. It was our little family tradition, started by my father. The cakes were usually a chocolate and white marble swirl with buter-cream frosting. They were airbrushed with food coloring and/or adorned with little plastic decorations and Dad always made sure to choose a cake decorated to reflect our interest at the time. For me, such cakes included "Disney's Little Mermaid" cake, a horse and rider cake, a happy face cake, and a rainbow unicorn cake (pictured below).

my brother's 14th birthday

my 7th birthday

The Pettit's tradition ended for my brothers and I sometime in each of our high school careers. We didn't wonder about it or mourn the loss much. The cakes just sort of stopped coming and that seemed fine. Like most things, the life span of traditions also vary. And although they do come to an end at some point, they are always remembered.

My thirtieth birthday is coming up this Saturday. I may have outgrown the Pettit's tradition that my dad started ago, but I still love me some cake!

~Meg