Episode 20 - Happy Birthday Grandma

Today is Grandma's 85th birthday. It's been a wonderful day of quiet celebration. I put a birthday announcement in our local newspaper and shopper a week ago - so she's been receiving cards for several days. She slices each envelope open with a steak knife... reads aloud the verse on the card, any personal note - and the sender's name. Sometimes she shares a memory of the person ... and sometimes she has difficulty recollecting them - but always, she is happy to receive the good wishes. She found a plastic container to store her cards in ... keeping each envelope and its card together. I found it a bit cumbersome to look at the cards that way, so I took them out and put a rubber band around the envelopes, keeping the cards in the plastic holder. I placed the banded envelopes near the cards by her chair. A day later, the cards (and there were many) were once again reunited with their respective envelopes, back in the container.


We asked Grandma several times what she wanted to do for her birthday.
G: I don't know.
Me: Do you want to go out to eat?
G: Not really.
Me: Do you want to go somewhere special?
G: I don't think so.
Me: Well it's still a few days away, you can think about it.

One day DH remarked (as she showed him the cards she'd received that day), "You'll probably get a lot of cards this week."

G: Why? My birthday is over.
DH: No it isn't, it's next Sunday.
G: No, it was the 18th.
DH: I know, that's next Sunday.

Again (Friday) I asked if she'd decided what she wanted to do for her birthday.

G: Oh, I've been thinking but I don't know of anything.
Me: OK, keep thinking.
Two minutes later (maybe less) she asks:
G: So do we have any plans this weekend?
Me: Not yet, but I'm trying.

Yesterday she got flowers. She was thrilled. The woman delivering them for the flower shop was from our hometown. When she found out it was Grandma's birthday, she mentioned her own mother (who Mom knows). "Well tell her thank you.... these are beautiful."

"No - they aren't from my mother..."
"Oh ... then they are from you - that was so sweet of you..."
"No, no - I'm just delivering them"

"Then who are they from?"
"I don't know..."

I finally step in to rescue the poor delivery gal.

Me: Mom, it's a surprise. You need to open the card. She just brought them to you from the flower shop.
G: Oh - well thank you anyway.

I bet she shook her head all the way back to her van!

As we sat down to lunch Grandma commented that she couldn't believe she was 85 years old. She said she wanted to call her mother this morning and when she went to use the phone, she realized....

Yeah, Grandma's been gone for a long time (like 45 years). It just doesn't seem possible Grandma continued.

The day has been good. She finally decided she wanted one of those delicious chicken sandwiches (Thank you SUBWAY) and cherry angel food cake we'll have later. One grandson and his family joined us for lunch which she enjoyed greatly. The other grandsons called her on the phone which made her day.

Although I bought her a couple small gifts... I think the highlight of Mom's day was when I gave her a pedicure.

G: I've never had anything done like this before....
And for once I was able to honestly say,
Me: No Mom, you never have.

Usually when she says this about something - it's because she can't remember. But the bubbling footbath was a first and the bright red nail polish now adorning her toesies made for a special birthday treat. A short while ago, Grandma made mention of the experience.

G: Who gave me the towel for my birthday?
DH: You didn't get a towel for your birthday.
G: Yes, it's over there (motioning to her other gifts) I had it when you put my feet in the boiling water.
Me: It wasn't boiling Mom - it was just hot.
DH: We wouldn't put your feet in boiling water, that would hurt.
G: Well, it was bubbling.

This, my friends, is how rumors get started.

I don't think I have 85 candles lying around here (or room on the cake to put them).... no matter how many she blows out, I think she'd say she's gotten most of her birthday wishes.

Birthday Blessings Grandma!

So ends Episode 20