And there were milestones....

and sweet, sweet memories...
And even though she was a bit embarrassed to admit it,
she felt GRATITUDE...
not in a corny or posthumous way...
but in the most innocent and genuine place in her heart..
Gratitude that the years had mellowed the scars of World War II that the old woman
had carried on her back for so very long...
insurmountable thankfulness that the relationship between the two,
(the mother and the daughter)
had FINALLY
 been sprinkled with CONFECTIONERS SUGAR from heaven and
oleander from earth..
so that...
there existed a kind of UNSPOKEN UNDERSTANDING....
a rapprochement....
No !
Actually more than that...
a newkind of LOVE,
 built from a lifetime's sojourn in exile...
seemingly FAR from the Promised Land....
yet somehow,
VERY CLOSE indeed....
She wished her MOTHER a very, very HAPPY and HEALTHY BIRTHDAY ...
And they blew out the candles on her mother's FAVORITE cake...
(ironically)
"GERMAN CHOCOLATE"....