we had a lovely surprise party for our mom last weekend. Nobody gave away the secret. It helped not telling her husband and just inviting them over to have dinner at the youngest daughters house for "dinner"
Boy was she surprised. We thought he was going to keel over. All of us wrote out our 10 favorite memories and bound them in a book for her. She opened the book, teared up and decided to read it at home where she could have privacy. The book was very touching and funny. Well, when you have 7 girls and one boy there are bound to be a lot of touching moments in a lifetime of love in a family. The book was a hit. I wish we all had copies.
I'm so glad we had the party. We all need to tell our parents how much we love and respect them. nobody wants to stand over a grave thinking those things like I did with my dad.

Reading about your mom's party reminded me of the 50th anniversary party we had for my mom and dad. It was like another wedding reception.

I am so grateful we decided to go for it because Mom died 2 years later. The party was such an affirmation for all the years they spent raising their 5 kids. We took tons of pictures and I cherish them because it was the last time everyone was together as a family before Mom got her diagnosis.

Parties are such an awesome way of showing love and appreciation for family and friends.

I love your book idea. I bet she will read that off and on for the rest of her life.

By the way, I was raised in a family with 4 girls and 1 boy. I can hardly imagine s-e-v-e-n girls. Tell me about your one brother. How did he survive...and did your mom take up for him the way my mom took up for her only son?

We sure did have a house full of girls! Actually, a lot of us girls were active in sports and not the broken fingernail, reading Cosmo types. We managed fine. My mother was the glue for our family. Dad couldn't settle in his job for long, he'd get bored and want to do something new. Mom worked hard to support us all at times, and she never let us forget it. She could tell us down to the penny, where every cent was spent in the household budget. She lives a debt free life now as a result of her sensible ways.
I'm sorry to hear that you don't have your mother with you anymore. After nearly 13 years I still miss my father nearly every day.
I'm glad I told him how much I loved him and we had good times. His last days came quick and unexpected and some of the other kids have struggled with how they left things.
But the party.....was a hit. She thought we would wait till her 75th. We wanted to do the party now because her memory is slipping quite a bit.
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I have so enjoyed sharing in this forum.
--dana