As Facebook reminded me, in 2009 Eddie threw me a birthday party at our old apartment. It was our first Christmas living together (side note- I had moved in during March of 2009, 7 months after we started dating. When you know it’s right, you just know). He decorated the apartment with birthday banners and balloons and sprayed that fake snow on the windows of the glass doors. The entire place was meticulously cleaned and he made sure everything was perfect.

My favorite part of all though, was that he made the cake. He could have just ordered one, but he choose to make it for me… because he loved me and wanted to show me that in all the ways he could. It was a strawberry cake with vanilla frosting. Cake was not his dessert of choice. Strawberry cake definitely wasn’t. I found out later that he actually had to go to a few different stores for strawberry cake mix because he knew that was my favorite. Even though he was such a tough guy, he had a soft side and did everything he could to make me happy…always.

Being in the kitchen…especially baking…was not his thing and honestly with the mess he always left behind, I was relieved it wasn’t. On his own, he made made the cake, frosted it and put the correct amount of candles on. He even cleaned up his mess.

I remember walking into the apartment after school that day… it smelled freshly cleaned and he had candles lit, making the place smell like the holidays. I remember his huge smile when he greeted me and the love I felt.

Eddie’s smile in this picture says it all. He was extremely proud of his cake. He was happy and loving life.