Imagine my mom a week before her 70th birthday showing up to my house expecting a small "family dinner" and finding 90 unexpected friends and family members.
Imagine the planning and logistics of this party and more especially the gift given being a central part of my life for months, and I couldn't even mention anything about it on my blog in case my mom saw.
Last Sunday was the celebration of my mom's 70th birthday. I was more surprised than she when I realized that the secret of her party had been kept... no one gave it up (though we heard stories that night of a few who caught themselves just in time).
This is the day my sister and I had been waiting for-- not for the party itself, but to present my mom with this special gift we had been working on for months.
So, to begin: Here's the picture as the "SURPRISE" was yelled out
(my nephew Alex was a little traumatized by all the people in the house so he hid out in my room after this for much of the night... there were moments I wanted to do this as well. It was crazy. :)
And here's some of the food we enjoyed:
Since my mom's birthday gift was the central part of the evening, here's the story behind it:
Last July my sister called me with an idea for my mom's birthday: we (meaning she) would make a quilt put together of squares contributed by many of my mom's friends and family. The squares people submitted could contain a simple quilting block, pictures, memories, quotes, or messages to my mom. I handled the logistics -- the inviting, collecting, etc, while Val did the creative part--the piecing together and quilting. Sadly we couldn't include ALL of her friends in the quilt as my mom is a very social person and knows far too many to include everyone, and I didn't have all her friends e-mail addresses. But we got a good sampling. We did end up with 70 squares representing her 70 years to this point.
The following pictures show her reactions as she opens the gift
Above is the "I'm just overwhelmed at how many people are here" reaction.
I guess we were having a good time.
And the gift is: (drum roll)...
(above) Getting a little emotional (not unexpected from my mom) as she realizes how many people have participated and what was done for her.
Finally realizing... "Why am I crying? This is a good thing."
Everyone else wants to see, too... They helped make it, after all.
The quilt looked awesome. Val and the 69 others involved did an amazing job to create the gift of a lifetime... literally. Celebrating the central moments and many of the central people in my mom's life.
Alex loved the quilt too... but I don't think he quite understood the concept as we were folding it up. (No, Alex... it may look like one but it's not a Hammock)
And at the end of the evening we went bowling. (just can't get my mom away from those video games ;)
Happy Birthday, mom.
