Yesterday, Lillian asked her grandfather why she did not get to go to her Yia-Yia’s birthday party on Wednesday. She did not believe ePa when he told her that we hadn’t had a party—a birthday without a party being inconceivable to her. “ePa,” she said after thinking this over for some time, “Let’s make Yia-Yia a cake. A vanilla cake. Not vanilla—chocolate! That’s my favorite and it will be hers, too!”
ePa, not widely known for his baking skills, eventually agreed to help—”but let’s make it a surprise.”
“OK!” said Lillian.
So, this morning, Lillian and ePa started making a cake. “What’s wrong, ePa?” Lillian asked after several minutes.
“Nothing, I am just trying to understand the recipe and what it means.”
“Yia-Yia!” Lillian shouted, “Come show us how to make your surprise!”
Yia-Yia kindly came in and assisted with the difficult parts (“This is a hand mixer,” she said, helpfully, “And this is a spatula.” Yia-Yia knows many things).
Lillian helped mix the cake batter and then licked the mixer to make sure that none went to waste. We baked the cake, went to lunch, then came home and iced the cake. Lillian licked the excess icing off of the spatula (her favorite part), and got chocolate frosting all over her face.
Then she sat down with her Yia-Yia and they ate chocolate cake with milk, and Lillian was happy that she had helped her Yia-Yia have a small party for her birthday.
The Denby Clan 