Lisa Sarber Aldrich was trying to find a birthday cake for her friend Mandy so she went to Meijer Marketplace in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She just wanted a simple cake and had no idea that she was about make someone's day.
1
When she found the colors she wanted, she found an employee behind the counter and asked her to write “Happy Birthday Mandy” on it. After what seemed like a long time, the girl handed her back this. Aldrich wrote on her Facebook wall: “I looked her in the eye and said thank you before I even looked at the cake. After looking, I nervously laughed and headed to check out- it didn’t really matter to me that it looked so bad— I thought people would think it was funny. The cashiers at the self check out didn’t think it was so funny though, and called a few more cashiers and a manger over to look, even taking pictures… one cashier put her arm on my shoulder and said ‘the girl who wrote that has Autism. Thank you for smiling and thanking her- even though she’s not supposed to write on cakes, you probably made her day.”
2
Since its posting, it had been shared 99,000 times on Facebook. Some people accused her of doing PR for the grocery store, but she shut that down real quick. She also admitted to everyone how much she loves cake.
3
However, most of the comments were supporting and thankful for the reminder that even the smallest things can lift someone up when you least expect it. Moral of the story? Sometimes spreading joy really is a piece of cake.