He smelled something burning. This was nothing new.  The smell was almost unbearable. Chicken, hamburger, potatoes--you name it, she could burn it. She did try hard and that was what counted.

This was supposed to be his special birthday dinner and every year it was getting harder and harder for him to choke down these “special” dinners. Tonight he discovered that the surprise dinner was Spaghetti. Dark brown spaghetti with what he figured was supposed to be a marinara sauce that looked like it had been thrown on the floor and thrown around for awhile just before being put back in the pan and boiled down. He managed to eat it with a smile on his face.  

After dinner came his cake. It had the most beautiful frosting decorations on it and the cake inside didn’t look bad either. There was a glimmer of hope in his eyes as he took his first bite. Sadly he was disappointed as the cake was dry and the frosting tasted like butter.

Her birthday was coming up in a couple of weeks and he knew the perfect gift to get for her…Cooking lessons.