Traditions

My best friend Sheri's birthday was a couple of weeks ago, and tonight we took her and her husband Dan out for dinner to celebrate (better late than never!).  She got to pick where we went, and she picked Ruth's Chris.  On the way there, Donovan and I stopped at Vons to get her a balloon, because no birthday celebration is complete without a balloon, even a belated one!  While we were there, I realized that there was a birthday tradition that had gone missing over the past few years...

For years and years, for every birthday or special occasion, Sheri, Brian and I would get Vons white cake with white frosting.  It was simply all of our favorite.  Apparently without realizing it, when Brian and I broke up, I stopped getting Sheri the Vons white cake for her birthday.

So tonight, when we stopped at Vons, we got her a Vons white cake.  It had orange and purple frosting in honor of Halloween, and we had the bakery guy write "Happy Birfday Sheri!!" on it in purple frosting (mispelled on purpose).  It even had orange frosting pumpkins on it, which was perfect for an inside joke she and I have.  Her face lit up when she saw the cake...she was just so excited about it!  When our waitress brought it out at the end of the meal with candles lit, it was perfect.  And when Sheri took her first bite of the cake, she was just so happy.

It made me wonder...how many other traditions have I let slip away that might be missing for someone I love?