On Friday, my Mom turned 85. I started to think about how we will celebrate that day way-way in advance.
Most of the time when somebody is celebrating the 85th birthday, there are lots of friends and family members who can take part in the celebration. But Mom immigrated to the US less than two years ago. Moreover, she is extremely reluctant to develop new connections, and she firmly believes that she does not understand people around her. There are very few of my friends with whom she interacts on a more or less regular basis
I knew that an essential part would be having all grandchildren there, and because of that, everything depended on Vlad’s schedule. First, he said he will be able to do Saturday, but turned out that January 11 was going to be his first day back to work after nine days off. He suggested that we do Friday night, and I said it had to be in Palatine. After all, it turned out great, because it was easier for everybody, including Anna.
It was almost a surprise party for Mom. I told her that we would do “something” for her birthday and that she should be ready by 5-30. She did not know until the very last moment, that all of her grandchildren and her great-granddaughter will be there.
I catered all the food from Eurofresh, my local grocery heaven. That was not the first time I used them for catering, and they are doing an amazing job for a fraction of a price. Vlad came earlier and picked up the order plus some extras. I picked up the cake which I ordered from Vanilla Chicago, and also their amazing assortment of macaroons. Their website said that their 6-inch cake would serve ten people. I had doubts, but it was indeed perfect!
We all had a great time together, and Mom even made a speech in English, which she refuses most of the time. The next day she was trying to tell me that she is so sorry I had to spend so much time and effort, but I told her that if she liked it, this is all we wanted!
Hettie's Reflections 