My mom is quiet, reserved and a bit on the shy side.
Lots of folks like crowds and gatherings and spectacles. Mom doesn’t. Which is why it was a bit of a challenge to throw her a proper 80th birthday party.
Her idea of a good time is reading a book in her sunroom or maybe mowing the lawn.
So, we decided to have several smaller gatherings. The first was a breakfast tea party at my sister Sarah’s house with all the grandchildren and great-grandchildren age 7 and younger.
There were 10 of them.
The party’s highlight was a handmade card from Kingston, 7, which read, “Grandma, I would never see you if you weren’t alive.” Making sure he was out of the room, Mom laughed until she cried.
This party also included three baby ducks and a swimming pool, which delighted the guests immensely.
Lunch was to be a women’s lunch with daughters and granddaughters while “the dads” watched the youngsters at a park. A last-minute realization that the lunch venue closed at noon resulted in near disaster. But two granddaughters, ages 34 and 28, rose to the challenge and in less than two hours created a delicious and beautiful lunch which was enjoyed by a dozen women under the gazebo in the Sanford Healing Garden. It turned out to be the perfect setting.
The afternoon was spent playing corn hole with one son, six grandsons and one grandson-in-law at my brother Mike’s house.
The highlight of this party was creating a drone photo of Grandma standing in the giant “80” pattern her grandson Jordan mowed on the lawn for the occasion.
A final hurrah was The Big Party at my sister Lori’s house, where the entire group of 34 descendants gathered for burgers on the grill, a salad bar and, of course, birthday cake.
My sister placed no limit on the amount of purple decorations that can be arranged in one garage. It was spectacular.
In the middle of all of this commotion sat my mom. Quiet as usual. She squeezed little ones as they jumped onto and off her lap. She smiled when we sang “Happy Birthday,” looking relieved when the song was over.
And then she served 33 slices of birthday cake to her husband and kids and grandkids and great-grandkids without really saying a whole lot.
Because my mom is quiet, reserved and a little on the shy side.
Happy 80th birthday, Mom. We love you.