Happy 90th Maxine !
The “plan” was to take Mother out for dinner at Steak & Ale, one of her favorite places, with several family and friends present, then come back to our house for cake and presents. Our daughter, Kim, took care of making all the reservations, ordering the cake, etc. to help me get things together since I live in Italy and time was of the essence! Little did we know what was REALLY going on! On the way to the restaurant, we stopped by our daughter’s place to check on something ( why her Dad felt the need to take THAT moment to check out their hardwood floor was beyond me!). As we drove up, I was surprised to see lots of cars in the drive and began to recognize some – still, it didn’t dawn on me what was going on!
When Mother and I walked in, to say we were completely surprised was an understatement! The decorated house and yard were overflowing with family, friends, and food – we were overwhelmed! Her granddaughter, Kim (who was behind all this) placed a crown on her head that had little blinking lights on it – Mother was quite the “Queen for a Day”! Guess they thought that since my birthday was July 8th, that we should celebrate together. It was such a fun night!
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Mother was so surprised……she couldn’t get over all the people, the food, the presents and all the wonderful cards she received from all her friends in Florida! We had a whole basket chock FULL of cards……there must have been 40+ and she opened and read every one! It made her day…….and that was the WHOLE IDEA!
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Everyone had a great time and so enjoyed watching Mother open her cards and gifts….of course, I’m sure I’ll have to remind her where some of that stuff came from and why, but hey, she’s 90…….hope I’m doing as well at her age! Many thanks to our daughter and all those who were part of this BIG SURPRISE! She worked very hard to put all this together and it was incredible!
A special thanks to Pastor Mike at the Presbytarian Church of the Covenant in Sarasota and Pam at Orange Acres for aiding and abetting me in this covert operation of getting the cards and greetings for Mom ~ your time and effort was so appreciated! And to ALL who sent their heartfelt greetings to Mom on her special day, the family thanks you from the bottom of our hearts!
Rick and Maryanne Haslep