Fleur de Aleta

Wish for more by Aleta O'Brien I know I can’t change you. But I do wish for more. In this autumn room, dimly lit and leaf-textured, the kind that crunches beneath my feet while a cool breeze settles in. I know your patterns remain. But I do wish for more. Colors inside this heavy shade. I dream in swirls of gold ribbon swinging from ceilings, wrapping themselves around me— and I can fly. I know your humor is stuck. But I do wish for more. I am not one of the guys. Open your eyes to pretty Notice the tender things, the small things offered simply because they made you think of me. I know I can’t change you. I know. But still— I wish for more.

I Broke a Chain and Built a Boundary Some inherit silver. Some inherit stories. Some inherit silence. There are things passed from hand to hand without anyone noticing— old fears, carefully folded, placed inside the pockets of the next generation. Today, I laid one of them down. Not with anger. Not with triumph. Simply by refusing to hand it forward. In the quiet space where an old chain ended, I built something else. A boundary. Not a wall against love, but a doorway where respect must enter too. Perhaps that is how healing begins. Not by changing yesterday, but by giving tomorrow a different inheritance.

I used to decorate cakes. Not put some frosting on a cake and throw a few sprinkles on top decorate cakes. I took three cake-decorating classes. I learned to make my own buttercream. I learned piping, flowers, basket weave, roses, and all sorts of techniques. Then I started experimenting on my own. My first attempt at homemade icing was late at night.  I did not put a towel over the mixer.  I turned it on full speed. If you’ve never introduced powdered sugar to a mixer at full speed, let me explain what happens. Everything becomes powdered sugar. The counter. The cabinets. The floor. Me. Possibly neighboring parishes. My husband walked into the kitchen, looked at the disaster with obvious disgust, and walked back out. By the next morning, I had made sure everything was spotless.  But I kept decorating cakes.  And I got pretty damn good at it. I Made Art You Could Eat I originally learned because I wanted to make themed birthday cakes for my son. I loved doing it....