She left a year and a half ago, but I remember this day 14 years ago very clearly.
Looking in my hard drive for something I wanted to show you that happened in the past, I found some photographs recovered from a damaged phone memory at that time, photographs that belong to the past and when I looked at them I couldn't help remembering so many things.
I remembered another life, other moments of my life, it's amazing how photographs make you go back to that moment and relive it.
The memory of my phone at that time had burnt out and I managed to recover some of those photographs, there were many of them and of different events. Many of the ones that were permanently damaged appeared half grey and half intermingled with another one that had nothing to do with it. For example, half of the photo was a face and the other half was part of my garden. Strange things happen with technology.
But when I saw this cake, I was flooded with memories and with them came tears. It was emotional.
My cousin Mary, my mother's cousin, but also mine because I have no direct cousins as my parents are only children, left this world on 14 May last year. She was very young, only 63 years old. It was very painful. We were in different countries and she suffered a lot.
I decorated this cake on her 50th birthday. I remember that day, I remember it with my heart.
I prepared a surprise party, yes, I was her second cousin. My mother made the cake and it weighed so many kilos that it was difficult to lift it, I remember.
I decorated it with her in mind. She loved dancing, she was going to learn tango, salsa, merengue, bachata... she really liked it.
I decided that this day had to be special, 50 years is not an everyday occurrence. And even though we were very different, I loved her very much. She was 50 at the time but she was like an eternal teenager, asking me about life. I was 32 at the time.
It had to be a big birthday. There was not only to be a cake, but various gifts, souvenirs, decorations, everything for her.
Not even her two children knew what I was preparing for their mother. It was not possible to have a big party, but I wanted it to be special.
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With my mother and my brother we bought her one of those bed coats, a very beautiful quilt, double sided, that she could use on whichever side she liked. It was hard to find just the right one, but we did. It was beautiful.
That gift came with a card I designed for her, a private card, kind of naughty, because it had a man's face on it and stuff. She loved it.
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The second gift was a shoe made of chocolate, a big shoe, she loved sandals and shoes and chocolate too. Sweets fascinated him, I remember that. I remember a lot of things and sometimes it's hard for me to write.
Look how beautiful that shoe was, she said it was delicious but she felt sorry to eat it, it was perfect. Something delicate, tasty and beautiful. I don't think I ever expected all this.
I designed another card for her so that the guests at the reunion could write a message there with their signature and that my cousin could keep it as a souvenir. Every single person did it and she was able to keep that special card.
Then I designed the souvenirs, they had her picture on one side and the date on the other, it was simple, but it was the picture of herself that she liked the most. I put them in a small basket with a satin cloth on board. Each person was given one of them as a souvenir of this little party.
So many memories, not only the ones from that day come to mind, but a whole life... and she is no longer here. Wherever she is, she knows that I love her and have loved her a lot.
As I was telling you, I don't have many photographs of that day, but I do have the immensely happy memory of her cake. She loved the cakes for every birthday, she knew my mother would make it and I would decorate it for her.
When I left Argentina, she always told me that she missed the cakes.
She looks so happy with it, and it makes me happy to see her like that. Like an eternal child with her presents and her living room all beautifully decorated with balloons. The place was small but the hearts were very big.
I remember that day, I am reliving it right now... with tears in my eyes, but happy that she had a beautiful special 50th birthday.
Thank you all so much for watching and reading this far a little piece of my life and memories. I send you a big hello and see you next time.
Amonet.
All photographs are my own.
Separators created by me in Photoshop.
Used translator Deepl.com free version.