Surprise!

At 9:30 a.m. on my mom's birthday - Saturday, October 25th - I called her, sang happy birthday and said, "I have a surprise for you." At that moment, I flung open her bedroom door and ran into where she was standing, half-dressed, with her toothbrush in one hand and the phone in the other. "Surprise! I'm here!" She was so stunned and so happy. It was awesome. Only five days earlier, I found out that my dad was going to be out-of-town on her birthday, and since my parents are now empty-nesters that meant that she was going to be alone. Dad quickly agreed to sponsor me when I proposed the idea, so Friday afternoon I took my first flight out of SeaTac Airport and headed home.

My good friend Lee picked me up from the airport and we spent the evening exploring Coronado Island and gathering birthday celebratory items (balloons and streamers) at 24-hour pharmacies. He didn't drop me off until around 2a.m. because sometimes my mom stays up late reading when she's alone. Dad had hidden a key for me outside before he left and I snuck in barefoot - without even a moan from the dogs - and went directly up to my room. I was paranoid that she would hear me and freak out that someone was in the house; I didn't even flush the toilet.

I started calling the house phone at 8 a.m., but notice that I didn't actually get to surprise her until 9:30 a.m. I had been calling her intermittently that entire hour and a half, but she was screening all calls because there were window washers on the driveway and she didn't want to get out of bed on her birthday to tell them that she didn't want her windows washed. I would doze and then call her again and then doze again but even after an hour, I still couldn't get her to pick up. Then Dad started anxiously calling me from New York: "She never sleeps in this late! Is her car there? Are you sure she's still home? Has she taken the dogs for a walk?" If she hadn't picked up the last time I called, I was just going to go jump on her bed.

After the initial surprise, we had scrambled eggs and I worked on decorating the kitchen. We spent the rest of the day at a lovely spa where we enjoyed a facial, a loofah scrub, a steam room, a hot tub and a high-pressure water massager. It was quite glorious - although I did find myself recalling all the passages from my readings about privilege. Later that evening we dined at Chevy's, and Sunday was church, lunch and homemade dense, gooey, rich, chocolaty brownies: mom's ideal birthday cake.

I can't remember the last time that Mom and I had a "girl's weekend out" like that, and the undistracted bonding time was wonderful. I was grateful to be a part of, and a witness to, such a happy birthday weekend. Thanks to Dad and Lee for making it possible, and to Professor Conte, who let me skip our special Saturday class.

Last year, on Mom's 50th, Dad asked each of the kids to write a tribute to her. I wrote about her hands and in honor of another great year of her life, I'm posting it here.