A Sweet Experience Anonymous

Slowly walking down the stairs, wiping the sleep from my eyes, I head directly towards the kitchen. The cold metal mixing bowl meets my hand as I remove it from the cupboard. Struggling to make it to the counter with my hands full of ingredients, I set forth on my flour-covered journey, the last of six I had embarked on this summer.

Sifting, pouring, whisking, I carefully combine each ingredient into a masterful mixture. Two sets of tins await their pink liners, graham cracker crust, and heaping mounds of chocolate cake batter. All 24 creations enter the 350-degree oven to bake into perfection. Eighteen minutes later the oven beeps, I take them out, and do it all again, and then again.

All six-dozen cupcakes cool, giving me time to update the Facebook page, Gabby’s Cupcakes for Cancer, with today’s flavor, s’more, and a reminder that I would start selling the cupcakes this afternoon at 4:00 for $2.00 each. The newest information about Kaitlin’s progress slides out of the printer, waiting to be reported to all her supporters.

Frosting time! I whip together the egg whites, vanilla, and sugar until I get the perfect marshmallow consistency. I fill the frosting bag and start swirling it onto the cupcakes, a skill that took several...