My parents have a birthday a week apart. My siblings and I don't usually do anything too crazy for their birthdays but we usually do get together for cake and stuff. Often one of their birthdays falls on family vacation time but this year we are going later. I thought it would be nice to take them out to eat. Out to eat with no grandkids. Not that I don't love my neices and nephews but thought it might be kinda special to go somewhere nice. And kids don't really do "nice". I mentioned it to my siblings and they were all on board. Then one of my brothers thought it would be kinda neat to go without the spouses. Guess that takes care of babysitting! The rest of us thought that sounded like fun so the plan was on.
I called Mom and Dad separately that morning and told them that someone wanted me to call them and tell then that they want to take them out to eat tonight but don't want them to know who it is. All I know is they are supposed to be at Country Gardens at 5:00. Mom begged and pleaded for me to tell her who it was. "Well....well....who in the world is it"?? was more like her exact words. And then..."Is it....." and starts rattling off a bunch of their friends. I told her I'm not telling her and hung up midst her stuttering! Then I called Dad and he was all business...."Welllllllll....I'll have to see if I can be home by then". "Maybe you should just tell me who it is". Our conversation lasted all of 1 minute. Found out later from my brothers that he was all in a tizzy trying to figure out who it was, and told them about it immediately after hanging up with me.
Thanks to my youngest brother who is at home alot during the week, we found out that indeed they were both in a tizzy so to speak. He eavesdropped on them getting ready and I'm told the conversation went something like this..."Do you think it's OP's?. Maybe it's someone from our small group". Do you think it's Dennis and Linda. What about Mommie Petersheim"..and on and on. So glad I wasn't there cuz I woulda been giggling.
They left their house 1/2 hour before they needed too. So they were there in PLENTY of time. That's my dad though. Love that about him. Somehow I didn't get that part of all he passed on though....!
Meanwhile the siblings phones were all going crazy....Brad and I were stuck in traffic. There was an accident on 340. Because of the accidnet, my brother Jim was late too as was my brother in law who was supposed to get home so his wife could leave. We ended up getting there about 15 minutes late. It was raining as we went dashing in. When we walked in the door...you should've seen their faces. We heard the usual " I thought it might be you guys"!!!
We had such a good time. It seemed weird to be back in the pre inlaw and grandkid stage. Funny how those things change a family dynamics.
After supper we said our good-byes and headed home. NOT! We all went back to Dad's and pretty soon the rest of the family joined us! We celebrated with cake and ice cream. After all, what's a party without the whole family! The kids had so much fun singing to Ma-Ma and Pa-Pa!
It was so much fun to do this for my parents. Mom told us later that when they left the restaurant dad told her "Now that was special!"
I am so blessed that God put me in such a wonderful family. Yeah, things come up that are tough to work through but there is nothing like having each other and loving each other no matter what!
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