80 Cupcakes

For my Dad's 80th birthday I made 80 cupcakes. The display covered the entire top of my parents' small kitchen table, hiding the worn red Formica underneath. Even my Dad was a bit taken aback when he saw it.

Using a piping tube filled with icing, I had marked each cupcake with a different year of his life, starting with 1917. Notable years received additional decoration. I drew two interlocking rings on the year he married my Mom, a plus sign (+) on the years his children were born, a money symbol ($) on the year he retired. I thought I had all my bases covered.

Since it was his birthday, it only seemed right he should be the first one to choose. Looking across the landscape of sugar, I told him to pick his favorite year. Without the slightest hesitation, he plucked one devoid of a special mark. 

Both confused and surprised, I asked him why he had chosen such a random year. "It wasn't random," he replied. "That was the year I enlisted."

Once a soldier, always a soldier. 

"Cupcakes are muffins that believe in miracles." – Anonymous