Barb Patterson

Richland, MI

It was birthday time for my son, the Marine. What’s a mother to do when he is so far from home? I logged onto good old MarineParents.com to find out the best way to send a “birthday party” to Afghanistan. Of course there were plenty of terrific ideas there from moms who had "been there, done that." It turns out that Mason jar chocolate cakes are pretty darn easy to make. Add in some cans of frosting and you are good-to-go. Of course no birthday is complete without birthday plates, hats, balloons and noisemakers. So off I went to a local party store to locate the right supplies. What 25 year old wouldn’t like to have a Pirate Birthday? All of the guys in the “shop” hijacked the birthday box and set up a surprise party my son won’t ever forget. The emails are still flowing back to the States about how tasty the “jar cakes” were and how much fun they had that evening. It’s a birthday party my son will always remember and one for my memory book too.