It's Party Time Whether You Want It or Not

Mom and Dad on their 25th wedding anniversary. This picture was a scan from a scan and not a very good image, but you can see how Mom almost lost it and burst out laughing. She tried not to laugh with her mouth open, but you can tell how hard it was for her to hold it in. This photo is in a frame in our bedroom and it makes me smile every morning.

Let me tell you about the day this photo was taken. I, being the oldest, thought it would be cool if I could surprise Mom with a small party on their 25th wedding anniversary. Daddy had to be in on the surprise because his job was to get Mom out of the house while we decorated. (See the two candles and the cake! It took days for me to get that look.) Not only did he have to get Mom away from the house, he knew that she was NOT going to be satisifed eating at home on their 25th! She let him know this in no uncertain terms.

This is how my dad pulled it off and made Mom mad at the same time. They hardly ever had any free time to themselves, five kids, but he took her to dinner. Mom was expecting (did I say demanding) a nice romantic dinner, possibly a movie, or least a drive around town and maybe an ice cream cone. The restaurant he chose happened to be the one just at the edge of Shawnee and closest to their house. In other words, he pulled into the first restaurant he saw. No, Daddy couldn't take her into town and do it up right, for he was to get Mom fed and back home for this surprise party. This makes me laugh because Daddy was taking his job seriously, so seriously that Mom got really upset that he was nudging her out of the restaurant almost before they got seated, not to mention he stopped at the first restaurant he came to. Not my mom's ideal romantic way to celebrate 25 years together. They drove back to the house with Mom in a huff, but as you can see it turned out to be a really nice evening.

See those candles, the ones you make by putting ice in a milk carton. That was the year I made candles, 1973, the first year I was married. That was my hobby of the hour. I grabbed those off the piano and improvised. I did the best I could with what they had around the house to make a pretty kitchen table. I managed to buy a pretty cake though.

The guests - well they were all family. The same family we saw at least once a week. Mom's three sisters and their husbands. Not even all my siblings were there because they were away at college. They received exactly two presents, one a set of silver embossed glasses that are in my kitchen cabinet right now. The other gift was from her sisters - the ugliest wall clock I had ever seen. That thing was 24 inches in diameter with geometric spokes. Oh the bloggers today would love that ugly old thing.

Even with the same old family, we managed to make this day special for my mom and dad, but I have wondered if Mom would have rather had a nice evening out with my dad.

Note to all you party planners out there and I am talking to myself, you don't have to spend tons of money and hours on decorations and food to make something special for someone. You just have to give of yourself. Often the more impromptu is more fun - not so much stress!

Remember Mom's face and her smile because tomorrow I am going to tell you about the time when Mom totally lost her breath when laughing. It is at my expense, but I laugh just talking about it. Till tomorrow...........