A little fairy cake

My mum is (88) and lives in a residential home. It's a 10 minute walk to the home and I go every day unless one of my brothers is visiting. They live about an hour away and work so they visit once a week.

The daily ritual is that I take my mum two homemade buns and the newspaper. It's her habit to save the buns and the newspaper until the evening when she is in her room. It's her little treat for the day; something she looks forward to. The little cakes are now known as Grandma's buns in our household.

I know mum loves these treats. If I haven't had chance to bake or I forget to take them, her look of disappointment is ever so slight but still palpable. She jokes about it. She's too much of a wonderful mum to make me feel really guilty but I know she will miss them in the evening.

The care home is very good. Mum says the carers are very kind but nothing changes the fact that it isn't her home. I guess that small gift of the daily bun and newspaper is more than a little treat. Not only does it give her something to do and savour but also in a strange way represents a point of contact with her family and a reminder of our love for her. It makes her happy for a few minutes.

I got to wondering what my little treat of the day is? I guess it's my morning cup of strong real coffee that I make for myself after I have dropped the children off. But I don't think it has the significance of the little fairy cake and the newspaper.

Anyway the children and I are off now to see Grandma, buns and paper in hand.