It was the end of such a long week full of lectures and exams, but here we all were on a Friday morning sitting in our last class of the week. My Cardiopulmonary Disease course is where I spend my Friday mornings, but there was something a little special about this particular one. As I was sipping my third cup of coffee like I do every other week, a panel of patients walked in - little did I know, one of these three individuals would spark a fire in my brain for a future endeavor. A woman strolls in with her oxygen tank wheeling behind, sits down in the middle seat and immediately cracks a joke. She said, "if you ever want to get a free lunch, or anything really, carry one of these bad boys around!" as she was patting her oxygen.
Now it's not every day you get to see someone with such a light-hearted outlook on a not very good situation. As the class went on, she told her story - how she had been diagnosed with an idiopathic condition that causes scarring in her lungs, making it very difficult for her to breathe. Her body was working so hard all the time just to attempt to get oxygen throughout; she explained it as if her body thought she was running a marathon 24/7. Her resting heart rate was at 110 bpm, her respiratory rate was where it should be during a workout, and her metabolism worked three times as hard all the time.
As her story comes to an end, she states her next path in this journey - a lung transplant. Not only are those hard to come by, but they also have a 50% chance survival rate. The room full of future clinicians was silent. She went on to tell us that she has 5 amazing children, all of which give her an extra hug before she goes to sleep at night just in case it's the last. She's terrified of leaving them behind, of them having to live life without her. She's angry, mad, upset, and any other emotion you can think of, that she might have to leave this Earth early.
I wiped the tears from my eyes and began to empathize. Why should anyone have to live life with sadness when they're already sick? (I mean after all, they do say that the mind is a powerful healing tool for the body.) Why should people have to be told they can't do something? Why should people live life unfulfilled? So this, my friends, is where this spectacular idea began. I wanted to create memories of a lifetime for that mother and her 5 kids, so what better way to do it than with baking? I wanted to create an organization, or an experience rather, that brings joy and happiness for individuals who may be struggling with some aspect of their life whether it be from an illness, disability, etc. So with that, here we are combining my two loves - creating memories through sweets, what more could you ask for?
