In August of 2018, Israel Graves was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia after a trip to the pediatrician about an odd bruise and instantly his world was turned upside down.

Since his diagnosis, the journey through chemotherapy and hospital visits have been difficult for both Israel and his mother, Cara, as a single parent. But they have both worked hard to bolster his fight and strive through every obstacle.

Israel has not had much to look forward to this past year, and celebrating his birthday was not looking like it would be any different to the year he has had so far. However, turning thirteen is a milestone all on its own– and Israel was more than deserving of a genuine moment of surprise and celebration! So, Israel was given two unexpected but exciting surprises for his birthday, that was sure to make anyone smile.

His first surprise was being able to celebrate his birthday at home rather than having to spend it at the hospital. The second was receiving an incredible birthday cake from one of our marvelous Sugar Angels, Jackie at Edible Art Charlotte. As Cara shared, “Receiving this gift from Icing Smiles and its volunteer bakers was figuratively and literally ‘the icing on the cake!’”. Cara worked secretly, delaying their departure from the hospital so Israel could come home to his incredible birthday cake just at the right moment as a surprise. The cake is decorated in a Fortnite theme, a popular online game, and is the perfect representation of celebrating a moment to the fullest, as players can choose personalized dances for celebrating after winning each battle. So, like the Fortnite characters after winning every battle, Israel got his moment to celebrate. You can hear more about Israel’s journey and support him here.

This post written with love and smiles by Icing Smiles blogger Candyce Palmer.