My sister, The Planner, started the ball rolling about a month ago. We picked a weekend that was free for everyone, got my dad on board, and made a reservation. She also contacted the rest of the extended family and told them what we were doing.
Just so you understand, most of the extended family lives in the northeast part of the country (my parent's siblings and the majority of our cousins). My parents and my siblings all live in and around the Atlanta area. My husband and I live in Kentucky, about a six hour drive away. I also have an aunt that is in NC, also a 6 hour drive to my parent's house, and she was able to join us as well.
My aunt in NC came to visit for the weekend. She is hoping to move there soon so her and my mom went looking at houses Thursday and Friday. Since she was coming to visit, my mom suggested to my dad that they go out to dinner one night together. My dad thought it was a great idea and told her he would make a reservation. Haha!! A reservation was already made!! So later he told her that he made a reservation at a place in downtown Atlanta.
Saturday my husband and I left for Atlanta arriving at my sister's house about mid-afternoon. My brother and youngest sister arrived at the restaurant with their significant others first. My father was trying to stall my mother in some shops near the restaurant but eventually made their way over before the other four of us arrived. My sister and I and our husbands arrived and saw my dad first. He told us that she was with the others and so we went to mee them.
The restaurant was around the corner from where we had parked and we had to also go down a flight of stairs to the front entrance. My sister headed down first followed by my husband, then myself, and my brother-in-law following behind. I think at this point my mother was still surprised that two of her children happened to show up at the same restaurant she was at and hadn't fully comprehended what was going on. Then she saw my sister, but the appearance of my husband next followed by me totally shocked her!!
My mother's two sisters had sent a bouquet of flowers and some balloons which were waiting on our table for her. We had a lovely dinner and then went back to my sister's house for dessert. It was so nice to spend an evening with all of my family; we hadn't all been together since Thanksgiving and I don't know when we'll be able to all be together again.
At the end of the evening my husband and I went to my parent's house for the night and a card had arrived that day from one of my dad's brothers. More cards of congratulations would all be arriving this week. I know she was very touched by all the attention on this special occasion. It was definitely one worth celebrating!!
Here is a picture of all of us at the restaurant: my aunt, my parents, my three siblings and their significant others, and my husband and I.
Congrats, Mom!! So glad we could all be there to celebrate with you!!
Congratulations to your mom on being cancer-free for five years! That's awesome!
ReplyDeletewhat a great occasion to celebrate!
ReplyDeleteHow did I not know about this? Congrats to your Mom! Glad you got to be there for the surprise :)
ReplyDeleteLynn: Because I never said anything. And since my mom is also on FB, I certainly wasn't going to say anything there about going to Atlanta. We kept it all under wraps really well! :)
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