Mark and I pulled a fast one on Mom today with the help of some of her friends and family. We managed to pull together a surprise birthday party for her in 2 days!

It all started when I decided several days ago to invite a few family members over to celebrate her 96th birthday. I told my sister about it, and she said, “You should invite this friend and that one too.” I got in touch with her long-time friends, Barb and Dennis Plies, and Barb was so excited about it that she got in touch with some other friends of Mom’s that she hasn’t seen in a long time. In the meantime, I had invited my cousin-in-law, Sue, my son, Jamey, and my high school BFF, Wendy (because it was the only way I was going to have a chance to see her).

Yesterday, Mark and I went to visit his Mom in Vancouver, Washington, who is being treated for liver cancer, and there was a traffic jam on the way back, but I didn’t call Mom to let her know we were stuck in a traffic jam until we were not far from her home. That bought us some time to stop at Dollar Tree to get party supplies, and go to the bakery at Safeway and order a birthday cake with her name on it. We also stopped in at King City Senior Center, where Mom has been staying when she doesn’t have company, and we arranged for a room to be reserved so that we could have the party there.

This morning, Mark went to the hardware store, and while he was out, he picked up the cake and took it to the senior center. When he got back, I told Mom I needed to borrow her car, and fortunately, she didn’t ask why. Mark stayed with her to get the car packed for our trip, and to load the trailer onto the back of his car while she worked on a puzzle I had gotten her for her birthday and gave to her on Tuesday.

I got to the senior center a little bit later than my friend, Wendy. Just as I was setting the bag down, I got a call from Jamey asking where he should park. I told Wendy how I envisioned having the tables set up, so she started in on that while I went down to help Jamey. Then he asked if I could help him bring the drinks in. It was so good to see him! We got the bottles up to the room, and then I got a call from one of Mom’s friends who was a little lost. She was in the right area, but needed help finding us. I went down and met her and showed her the way, and also another friend showed up, so I escorted her up. Everyone after that found their way on their own.

Finally, we had everything set up and all the guests had arrived, so I tried to call Mark, but I couldn’t get through on his phone. I had to call Mom and ask if she could put him on the phone. I told him to try to find an excuse to bring her back to her apartment, so when he hung up, he said he didn’t know why I hadn’t just talked with her. The people at the senior center wanted to go over some papers with her. Clever! She had already given 30 days’ notice on her apartment because she’s going to spend the winter with Lauryn again, so she was confused about why they wanted to talk to her, and she wasn’t focusing on anything else. When they walked into the building, no one was at the front desk, so they decided to go up to her apartment. The room we had reserved was on the 2nd floor, the same as her apartment. I knew that she would take the stairs instead of the elevator. Even at 96 years of age, she’s very fit. So I stood on the balcony where I could watch for them, and when I heard her voice, I shushed everyone in the room and closed the door. Then I walked around the elevator and was waiting for her when she got to the top of the stairs. She was surprised to see me and said, “I didn’t know we were meeting you here.” I said, “Mom, I want to show you something in the craft room.” I walked over to the door and opened it just as she and Mark got there, and everyone inside said, “Surprise!” She almost looked like she was going to cry.

I didn’t get very many pictures. Mom’s friend, Barb, did, and I’m waiting for her to send them so I can show you how surprised Mom looked when she saw all her old friends. In the meantime, I’ll send what pictures I have.

Mom is well-loved by her friends. Dennis and Barb rearranged their schedule for today so that they could attend her party. Most of them came with just a day’s notice. I found gold marble-like paper plates, gold cups, and gold plasticware, and I told Mom that I thought of her golden years when I got them. Everything was so pretty, and Mom was happier than a kid at Christmas! This is the first time since 2010 that I have been able to celebrate Mom’s birthday with her in person. I’m very happy that we live only a 2-day ride from her now and can do things like this!