IT’S SUNDAY AFTERNOON, and Natosha and Ryan Fleming sit at a picnic table with their teenaged son, Ryan Jr., in Optimist Hall. It’s been a long day, and their little band is tired.
“I didn’t really sleep last night,” Natosha confesses. She stayed up to make sample cakes for an appearance on a morning talk show, but the icing on one of the centerpieces refused to cooperate. Though tastier than traditional fondant, it was less pliable for designing. After several do-overs, she handpainted a stained glass effect on the cake and headed to the TV station before the sun was up. Afterward, she took part in an expo, with Ryan and Ryan Jr. pitching in until late afternoon.
As they pause to enjoy some gelato, the couple relates the story of how they fell in love, lost each other and, with the help of her dessert studio, found the sweet spot in their relationship.
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO, Natosha was a sophomore at Hampton University in Virginia. Just five feet tall, she cut a petite figure, with a youthful baby face. Her Bahamian father, “Crab,” known for his culinary skills, had introduced Natosha to the kitchen. But she saw it as just a hobby and pursued a degree in marketing.
Ryan grew up in Alexandria, Virginia. His mother attended North Carolina Central University and wanted him to continue the legacy. His great-aunt also lived nearby and could keep an eye on him. “I didn’t want that,” he says with a chuckle, shooting a mischievous glance across the table at Natosha. Instead, he became a Hampton Pirate.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 2020 من Charlotte Magazine.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 2020 من Charlotte Magazine.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
‘This Is How We're Going to Make Your Child Better'
Pediatric neurosurgery is technically and emotionally complex—and traditionally dominated by men. As Novant’s first female pediatric neurosurgeon, Dr. Erin Kiehna Richardson has had to learn the intricacies of a demanding field and battle sexism along the way
The Dumbledore of CMC
A surgery resident wrote a series of children’s books and created a special kind of medical magic
LGBTQ HB2+5
Five years after the furor of House Bill 2, the LGBTQ community—in Charlotte, in North Carolina, and across much of the nation—fights attacks on new fronts
Oh, Snap!
New ‘selfie museum’ in Concord celebrates the 1990s
ALLISON LATOS
The WSOC anchor on her hard trek from one episode of loss and grief to another—and the meaning of resilience
GOOD HEALTH
For years, Charlotte has been one of the largest American cities that lacked a four-year medical school. The health care professionals who finally made it happen overcame a series of setbacks, false starts, and failures, and they plan to use their clean slate to create a new kind of community asset
Summer Partee
From woodwork to retail, the kindergarten teacher-turned-designer has learned how to do it herself
Uptown or Downtown?
Archives illuminate how long we’ve argued over the perennial question
NOW OPEN NOVEL ITALIAN
Paul Verica brings a simpler version of the city’s hottest food trend to NoDa
TOP DOCTORS 2021
The annual list you can't without
