My Story
**TRIGGER WARNING: ABUSE**
Currently I am a 56-year-old woman, and I am the owner and founder of Ms. Sweet Tooth Bakery. I began my journey in 2019 following my passion I have always loved to do all my life. I've been baking ever since I was a young girl with my mom & grandmother. I mostly tried recipes and did very basic cake decorating and baked cookies. As I grew older, I began perfecting many cake flavours but only baked for my family. One day someone said that I should sell my cakes.
I was told so often “Your cakes taste amazing” and this motivated me to give it a try. Until then I had never picked up a piping bag, however I decided to jump in with both feet.
I researched everything and watched videos and listened to what others in this industry had to say. Before I knew it, I was starting to receive orders. Today I continue to learn and practice and have really found my place in this space, when it comes to the style of cakes I love to create.
A lifelong dream
For many years, I was in the childcare industry as an ECE teacher. I took a break from it when I had children and stayed home to raise them, which was a lifelong dream for me. I loved every part of being a mom and still do today! My children are 27 & 25. Both of whom have their own lives and careers, and of course my biggest fans!
I always wanted to be married, have children and be a mother. I was 27 years old, and nobody was knocking on my door. Raised in a European and catholic household marriage was almost an expectation. I was told it’s the next stage of life.
Unfortunately, my marriage did not work out as I planned.
This is where my story takes a drastic turn and changed my life forever. I married a man who l probably knew deep down inside wasn’t the best person for me. There were some red flags that I chose to ignore. We got into heated disagreements, and I would sometimes get to the point of leaving the vehicle we were disputing in! I always hoped things would change and get better once we would get married, and of course they only became worse.
When I was 7 months pregnant (approx. 1 year after being married) he hit me for the very first time. That’s when I should have left! I was so embarrassed of what people would say. We spent so much money on our wedding to suddenly walk away, I thought that would be wrong! Coupled with the fact that he apologized “profusely” and that it would never happen again.
Well, it did for 19 years.
Protect and shelter
I endured not only so many different types of abuse, but also the fact I was living with a cocaine addict.
I never told anyone, and I mean no one, of the monster I was living with until so many years later! And I can't begin to tell you how many times I was kicked and dragged out of my own house! Too often I had to sleep in a freezing garage in the middle of winter. If it wasn’t the garage, it would be in the bushes of my own backyard! All I could think of was I wanted to be with my children who were inside with this man that was high and drunk. Years later and even today my children tell me or have told me they knew something was going on! They heard my cries and felt sad and afraid for me!
Things would be thrown at me, and items in the house were smashed into pieces and then I was told to clean it up! He never abused me Infront of my kids, confirming how cowardly he was!
The moment I confirmed their thoughts, it would then be true to them, and I could no longer do that to them. My mission was to protect & shelter them from their father and the horrible man he is. I was afraid for myself but at this point I was afraid for my children!
I had my ribs cracked 3 times, concussions, bruises. bloody noses, and punches to the head where I literally would see stars, and everything would go black!
The last straw came a few months before I left.
At 7:30am he began to yell at me for whatever reason. The children came running into our primary bathroom only to see that their father was abusing me with the buckle side of his belt as I lay on the bathroom floor! My son who was 15 at the time had to pull his father off me. You would think at that point I would have left. I know I should have, but I didn’t. I had done my research to know that at that time in 2013, children at the age of 16 & older could make their own decision as to who they wanted to live with, and there was no way that he was going to take my children from me! They were coming with me.
When I look back, I’m not sure if was coincidence or that God had a plan for me. That morning of my son's 16th Birthday, the phone rang after my ex-husband left the house to go to work. My son picks up the phone knowing it was his father via call display. He thought he was calling to wish him a happy birthday, because my son was not awake when his father left. Well, that is not what he was calling for. Instead, he hears these words being shouted at him “YOU AND YOUR MOTHER GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE BEFORE I KILL YOU BOTH” My son's reply to him “YOU EVER TOUCH MOM AGAIN AND I’LL KILL YOU MYSELF!”
It was at that moment that we left and never returned.
I have been divorced for 9 years this Sept. My ex-husband stole half of my life that I’ll never get back. However, I have 2 amazing children who I adore and love more than anything. My daughter wrote me a poem that was just for me that hangs proudly beside my bed. It is a description of how she viewed me and how she felt about the dynamics of our household. She does not have a relationship with her father and my son has been sucked into his father’s family nonsense. They have a lot of money, and they continually buy him. When you have a 17-year-old who has a father with lots of money that buys him everything he desires, it's very hard for him to choose reality. That is another conversation for another day.
A remarkable man
About 1 year after I became separated, I met the most amazing man who suddenly came into my life. As cheesy as it sounds, he was and is my “knight in shining amour”. I have never met a man quite as remarkable as he is. I can honestly say that we laugh every day and have disagreements very seldomly. He is making my second part of my life the most beautiful experience. We have a tremendous respect for one another, and truly love each other so very much!
We have been together ever since we have met. Although the first little bit was rocky as my son was not on board with me dating. However, time passed and he came to see how happy I was with Claudio. To date we moved from Woodbridge to Aurora. My children look to Claudio as their dad and have the greatest love and respect for him.
Written by Michele Detoro
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