THE Cake

It may look like a silly white cake with Peeps all over it to you, but to me it's pure comfort. And not simply in the "comfort food" variety. This is THE Easter cake that I grew up with, that my Mom grew up with, that my children have had every Easter since their births. It's more then mere angel food with fluffy frosting, it's a tradition that reminds me that as often as the Coast Guard wants to fling us around the country, that we're still a family firmly rooted in the wonderful things that makes us "us".
I was raised by a Mother who firmly and reverently held onto the tradition of holidays. And if there wasn't a traditional food or ritual attached, then it was her job to create that memory for us. She approached it with zeal, and it made a lasting impression on me.
My parents raised their children only a few miles from each set of their parents, so there was a lot of driving around on holidays, giving each set of grandparents their due. I remember that with awe now, probably because it's not a problem we've ever had having never lived close enough to family to enter into that dance. And I fondly remember the holiday that changed it all, it was Thanksgiving and I was probably 10. My parents wanted their own holiday, not a commuters holiday with two different meals. So, we loaded up the Jeep and the dogs and us three kids and we went hunting. Yep, hunting. I loved it, my brother loved it, I think my sister enjoyed it but she was mildly hypothermic so her judgement could have been impaired. My mom...ah, the looks she was shooting as she was being encased in frozen rain didn't impart a lot of hope for this adventure to become a family tradition. But, later as we dined from the buffet at the Mound City truck stop I remember the twinkle in her eye. The food wasn't good, but it was at the table she chose. It was a breakthrough moment.
After that she dove in head first, reinforcing those traditions and the traditional foods that would forever cement the tastes and sounds of each holiday to my soul. It's just not New Year's day without black eyed peas, New Year's Eve without trifle, Christmas morning without the punch or dad's fried eggs and pepper bacon. And it's definitely not Easter without the cake.
We've added to our repertoire of holiday traditions in our own family; tamales for Christmas eve is my favorite and a tradition we latched onto after being stationed with a family from New Mexico. Each year, no matter where the Coast Guard has planted us, much as we reach for the same box of decorations, the familiar Christmas ornament, our favorite Halloween book, our Easter baskets; I pull out my recipe box.
My children have grown up with tradition, they've grown up knowing trifle and tamales and the Easter cake. They can count on it. It's constant.
And there is that little girl inside of me that gets to enjoy a few moments of closeness with my mom and dad each time I enjoy the gifts of tradition that they shared with me.
It may just look like a simple, silly cake to you. To me it's love, home and family.