One special cake I received was for my twenty-first birthday, which took place last spring. I was living away from home¹ at the time, so I didn’t expect to do anything particularly memorable. However, when I came back to my apartment after class, my roommates had turned the small living room into a surprise party space². The cake was from my younger sister, although she couldn’t be there in person. She had contacted a local bakery, chosen the design herself³, and asked my roommates to collect it for her. It was a small chocolate cake decorated with strawberries and a simple message that said, “Keep shining.” What made it even more touching was a tiny edible picture on top of the cake: it was a photo of my family and me from a holiday several years earlier. This cake was special not because it was expensive or unusually fancy, but because of the thought behind it⁴. My sister knew that I was feeling a little homesick⁵ and stressed about university at that time. Through this cake, she reminded me that my family still cared about me, even though we were living in different cities. I still remember feeling genuinely surprised and emotional when I saw it. In fact, I kept the small birthday card that came with the cake, and I look at it whenever I need a bit of encouragement⁶.