Who doesn’t love an unexpected treat?
A door held open by a stranger, a dandelion proffered by the hand of a wide-eyed two-year-old, a cake on your birthday? The act or the gift speaks more deeply than its physical cost because it means that you have been noticed. Someone values you and everyone needs to feel valued.
Wait. What’s so unexpected about a cake on your birthday?
I certainly expected a treat on my birthday and conditioned my children to expect them as well. They were always allowed to choose whatever treat they wanted. Sometimes it was a chocolate cake crusted with M&M minis, sometimes a key lime pie, sometimes a stack of my famous monster cookies. Yes, I see your mouth watering.
It came to my attention years ago that getting a treat on your birthday is not a given. My husband and I started taking homemade treats to the Charlotte Rescue Mission on Thanksgiving and Christmas because of a radio appeal. The Mission provides substance abuse recovery programs for men and women in our city. The clients stay on campus for 90-120 days as they learn how to restart their lives with clean hearts, bodies and minds.