10/07/2026
Hi friends
As you’re aware that this month is, a very big month for many people. October is not only domestic violence awareness month, but it is also breast cancer awareness month.
This month means a lot to me for many different reasons. Some of you know me, but most of you don’t. I am Michele and I am the owner of love to sprinkle bakery.
Here is my story:
In 2001 I met a man who I thought was the man of my dreams. I wanted to get to know him I wanted to marry him and I wanted a future with him. What I didn’t know was what lied ahead for me.
You see not everything is as it appears. Domestic violence does not have a face, a gender, an ethnicity, or nationality nor does it discriminate. Two months into the relationship is when the first punch came . The thing about it was that I had never been in a relationship where I was ever touched by a significant other. The first time it happened he cried and promised it would never happen again, and he could not explain how that happened and that he had never done that before. But the truth of the matter is, they have done it before many times over. I was just another victim for him. The domestic abuse went on for 6 1/2 years. People asked me why didn’t you leave? but if you’ve never been in an abusive relationship you wouldn’t understand. The fear is so crippling that it feels safer to stay then to look over your shoulder and not know when he’s gonna come around the corner and kill you not realizing that he’s just gonna kill you right there where you are. I have looked death in the face many times. broken bones, and bruises all over my body. One day I ran for my life, and I kept running and I could hear him running behind me so I ran into this building. What I didn’t know was the building that I ran into was a church. A small little town church called solid rock. A church I will never forget in my life. You see when I ran into this church this is when I met him. My savior. He was waiting for me, Jesus. On that day, I got saved. Jesus said to me fix yourself, stand up tall and look up because you are the daughter of the king. My ex-husband came into the church and took me back home where I was beat for days for running away. I planned my escape very carefully because I knew that God had a different plan for me. on the final day when my ex-husband took a knife to my side my son risked his life to save mine. What my ex-husband didn’t know was that my son and I were not fighting alone. God showed up. I am here today because God had a different plan.
Fast-forward 2023.
In January 2023 I was laying in bed. I had an itch so I itched it. And I thought I felt something. So I checked it and I kept checking it, and I realized that I felt a lump. I jumped out of bed so quickly and my heart was pounding. This couldn’t be, I know we hear about it. We hear about other stories of other people, but we never believe it’s could be us that it could happen to. Not me it happens to everybody else but not me. I thought to myself I’m probably just overthinking it, but I was due for my mammogram in like two weeks. I didn’t sleep all night and I called my doctor first thing in the morning and I said I need you to see me now it’s an emergency. I remember going to my doctor and her doing a breast exam and her saying oh it’s probably a cyst so don’t worry about it. I said to her this is my body don’t tell me not to worry about it. I want my mammogram now I’m not waiting. So they were able to do a mammogram fairly quickly. I remember the doctor telling me we’re gonna do your mammogram but if we see anything we’ll come and get you out of the waiting room and we’ll have you do an ultrasound. I said OK and I went into my mammogram with complete confidence that I would not need a follow up ultrasound. They do my mammogram and I’m waiting in the waiting room and they come out and they say we need to do an ultrasound on you. My heart sank. I was instantly sick with fear. I said this can’t be happening. I go and I get the ultrasound and a radiologist comes in and says to me we see something on your mammogram and ultrasound that is suspicious. We’re just going to do a biopsy to check. In that moment, I was frozen. I went to do my biopsy and before I start my biopsy the doctor comes in and says we saw a couple other spots that we missed the first time. My first thought is, how could you miss that so what turned into one biopsy turned into multiple. These biopsies were very painful. When I was leaving, the technician said the doctor will read the reports and will give you a call. I said OK and she said don’t expect a call for like two weeks cause it takes time to read it and get to the doctor. I said OK. Two days later I’m just leaving Costco and I’m driving in the car with my sister and I see that the doctor is calling and I thought wow they said two weeks. It’s been two days. I was not prepared for what I was about to hear. Because in my mind that doesn’t happen to me so I wasn’t concerned. The doctor says to me I’m sorry to inform you that you have breast cancer. I told my sister to pull off on the side of the road because I was gonna be sick. I said how could this happen to me? I thought this only happened to other people. And my life changed. What originally started out as I am probably stage zero very early on was very encouraging to me until I found that that that wasn’t true. In fact, as it turns out, I was stage 2 with invasion. I was so terrified. I didn’t know how I was gonna fight this. I just knew that I would fight it. My family was so supportive of me. They helped me through this. But God., he was the true hero. God lifted me up when I couldn’t walk. God helped me through the most difficult time of my life. God gave me strength that I could not find in my own self. God healed me and saved me because he is not ready for me yet. He has more plans for me. I lost all of my hair, my eyebrows, and my eyelashes. I had to do chemotherapy, which is extremely brutal, and I had to do radiation because I had invasion. It was one of the most difficult times of my entire life, but when I couldn’t walk, God carried me. And I got to ring the bell!!!!!!
If you’re in a domestic violence situation, I encourage you to reach out for help. There is help out there. Don’t wait till it’s too late. We are all beautiful human beings, and we never deserve to be touched by any other human being in a violent manner. We are all God’s children. Trust me when I tell you when he says he won’t do it again and that he didn’t mean to do it, he’s a liar. If you ever just need somebody to talk to, please feel free to call me. I’m always willing to listen.
Please ladies don’t forget your mammograms, but I do want to stress very strongly that in between your mammograms do self breast examinations every single month. Put it on your calendar the first of every single month and let it repeat month after month to do self breast exams in between mammograms because mammograms and self breast exams save lives. If you know somebody who needs to have one, but just doesn’t think it’s important enough I would encourage you to encourage them and remind them of the importance that early detection saves lives every day. If you’re going through a treatment or you have had a recent diagnosis or just need to talk I am always here to do that.
I have survived many things by God‘s grace and mercy and love for me. After I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I wanted to do something that I love to do and enjoyed myself and that was baking. I learned that from my mother. When I opened, love to sprinkle bakery. I was at my happiest time of life. I made a mistake and changed my business model which changed my course of my bakery. However, love to sprinkle bakery is still here and will continue to be here and grow. Who knows maybe another location will be in my future but for now I am happy with taking my orders online and through the phone. In just a couple weeks, I will be back on DoorDash GrubHub an Uber eats as well as doing all of my shows. And I’m OK with that for now. If you love, homemade delicious sweets I would encourage you to please support my bakery by going on my website checking out what I have and placing an order. This is just the beginning of my story. There’s so much more to come. ❤️
I love all of my followers and customers. Thank you for hearing my story 🙂
Michele
Love To Sprinkle Bakery
www.lovetosprinkle.com
P.S. my hair never grew back after chemotherapy and radiation. So each time you see me if my hair looks different it’s because I wear wigs now and I’m not ashamed of it. I mean after all, I had to choose between hair and life and I choose life. The first picture is me before breast cancer. The second picture is me losing my hair, but I gained my life. 💕
