Sweet Memories

So tonight after church, I took myself to Publix. I needed eggs, milk, toothpaste and of course, I was looking for Publix BOGO offers. There was supposed to be an ice cream treat in that BOGO list, but they were all out. So while I'm looking for the ice cream, I see the freezer section that is reserved for Carvel ice cream cakes. Imagine my surprise when I saw these great little things called "A Taste of Carvel." I was so excited. It's a cute little tub of Carvel vanilla and chocolate ice cream with those yummy little chocolate crunchies on top. I love those little chocolate crunchy things. This is what made me go "AHHHHHH" and get one. (BTW, only $1.49!!!! and just enough for a yummy snack.) For several years, my friend Kevin worked at a Carvel store in Lakeland. It was great. He actually became quite the cake decorator, enough that he decorated cakes for everybody for a while. I loved it when he worked there, because if he made our ice cream, he would always give me (if I asked) extra of the chocolate crunchy things. Just delicious – and a fun memory. He got so good at cake decorating that when we had a cake crisis, Kevin came to the rescue. When my nephew was little, for like his 5^th or 6^th birthday, he wanted a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cake. Robyn (his mom) was a recently divorced single mom with two boys, and since Ken's birthday is in December, money was always tight. It was hard finding him a TMNT cake. To make matters worse, right before his birthday he got sick. He couldn't have the party that he was supposed to have, because he was sick. We couldn't find a TMNT cake anywhere. So Kevin made him one. I think Robyn actually baked a regular cake mix and Kevin made it a Ninja Turtle cake. Kevin also helped us make a black cake for Robyn on her 30^th birthday. Patti and I gave her a hard time, and I'll never forget she reminded us that we would be 30 someday too. I told her since she is seven years older than I am, by the time I was 30, she'd be pushing 40 pretty hard. It's funny now!

My friend Kevin is a great guy. He gets embarrassed if people know this, but as a young man (in his early 20's) he took on the responsibility of raising other people's children. . . He's great! Isn't it funny how something so silly – a little tub of ice cream – can bring up such good memories???