Community Chat

[nrm]

@LilacTree Hope it’s a fun day! 

[Nataliesgramma]

Hope you have a wonderful day!!!

[Sweet_Serenity]

Have a wonderful day. Look forward hearing from you.

[goldensrbest]

Sounds nice, enjoy yourself.

[LilacTree]

LOL, those of you who predicted a surprise 80th birthday party were right on target!  My girls had it at the community center here in our development.  We had a family reunion there during the first year we lived here.  It's a lovely, accommodating place.

I knew there were too many cars for just a family portrait as my daughter and I pulled into the parking lot.  As I walked in, all phone and iPad cameras were clicking and all I could do was cover my mouth as I saw most of my family, my old friends from work, and our family friends from the 1970s, the first town we moved into and where the girls had made many long time friends.  I will still young then too and loved all of these kids (now in their 50s).  There were about 30 people there. 

Balloons and flowers all over the place, and my youngest daughter had made a large letter sign that said "80 years of love" which hung over the catering table.  They sang happy birthday and clapped, and I felt like a celebrity.  I have never had a birthday party before (just small family gatherings at home is all we've ever done for birthdays).

I saw faces I hadn't seen in years.  It was beautiful and so loving.  I did my best to spread myself among the crowd, and hopefully I did okay.  There was an abundance of food and little Italian cannolis, and two huge cakes for dessert.  It was a feast, and I just realized, alcohol-free, because many had long drives home.

Although the invitations specifically stated "no gifts please," some did present me with lovely mementos, etc. from the past.  I will treasure them.

There was a lot of hugging and expressions of love.  I will never ever forget it.  I may post some photos on FB, and would post one here if I thought it would be acceptable. 

My girls worked very hard to make this special, and special it was.  I'm still in a daze.

I will definitely be sending out thank you notes in my wavering printing to every single person who attended, as well as my three girls who made me realize how much I am loved.

[cherry]

How nice for you @LilacTree. I am so pleased that this was a wonderful day ,and surprise for you

It must have taken them a lot of planning ,to do this for you. See how much they love you!

[CAcableGirl2]

@LilacTree  What a wonderful surprise!  So thoughtful of your girls to plan that for you.  You are very lucky to have so many friends and family who care about you!

[chlema]

What a wonderful surprise and how nice for your daughters to do this, it's a great feeling to know how much you are loved is it not.  A special day that you will always remember.

[LilacTree]

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@chlemawrote:

What a wonderful surprise and how nice for your daughters to do this, it's a great feeling to know how much you are loved is it not.  A special day that you will always remember.

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@chlema

Yes it is.  They said they started in December, because my birthday was in January.  But it took a while to get the date set up, scheduling of folks because everyone had different dates they could come, etc.  Ten or more never did make it. 

My grandniece has a July wedding date, and she sent out "save the date" cards last fall.  And she is having a tent wedding where you never know if the weather is going to cooperate.

Hard to get that many people together all at once these days.

And yes, and it is a great feeling to know the people you love, love you back.

[LilacTree]

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@CAcableGirl2wrote:

@LilacTree  What a wonderful surprise!  So thoughtful of your girls to plan that for you.  You are very lucky to have so many friends and family who care about you!

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@CAcableGirl2

Oh yes I am a lucky woman.  I know that, it's wonderful.