Mary's Apple Stack Cake

by Bobbie
(LaFollette, TN.)

Every Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday the smells of cinnamon, ginger and apples bring back the memory of her unique apple stack cake. Our family always looked forward to it for Thanksgiving. I remember times after she lost her sight when she didn't try to make it. That was always a great loss to all of us. But we understood. No one ever thought there would come a time when we would never have it again. At least not so soon.

There were many times she could hardly move and yet she baked the stack cake. It was one of her gifts to us for the holidays. She always looked forward to Thanksgiving. We had that in common. It was our favorite holiday. But sometimes it was a part of the Christmas meal instead. I grew up with the smells of her baking during the holidays for we always tried to spend them together.

Had I been as wise as she was, I would have taken the time to write down her recipe. There is no excuse for not doing so. Yet, there were personal reasons why I could not think about the possibility of the reality of losing her. And her apple stack cake was just one of the many little touches of magic that died with her.

I have tried other apple stack cakes; but none have ever compared to hers. Yet, each time I see a picture or especially when I smell apples, ginger and cinnamon I think of her and all her little magic creations that made life so wonderful during the holidays.

She was my best friend for many years. And she was also my Aunt Mary. Now, she's gone, I hope, to a better place where she can see all the things that once made her eyes so bright, where there is no blindness or suffering. Still, I miss her and the smell of her apple stack cake and I wonder what magic she may be cooking up now!