Tea Time!
Today, my mom and I went up to Lexington to surprise my Grandma with a tea party for her birthday (bday next Wednesday). Mom called ahead of time to let Grandma know she would be in town around noon. It's not unusual for mom and dad to be in the area, visiting or running errands. We kept it a secret that I'd be there, or what we were doing. So after a hectic morning running around getting flowers (Salena's sister, Ellen, is my personal hero...she manages a flower shop, and gave me all her flowers from cleaning out her fridges...we had SO MANY FLOWERS for our garden party tea), making finger sandwiches, and packing up the car, we drove up there and surprised her. We walked in and she was flummoxed and happy to see me, and mom handed her a dress and a flowery hat and gloves, and we told her to put them on while we were at work, and not to peek out her front window. We then dressed up her front screened patio as a garden tea party, and brought her out to a delightful surprise.
The full set-up on Grandma's porch. With lots of flowers. The teapot (under the cozy) was white with red roses.
Some of the many flowers.
More of the many flowers.
Mom serves Grandma.
The lady of the hour, looking ever so proper!
A great picture of my mom.
Me, sipping tea. Mmm! We forgot the little white china cups we were going to bring, so we had to improvise.
Group shot!
Grandma really seemed thrilled about the whole thing, and she was totally surprised. She told us that even when we handed her the clothes and shut the blinds, she still had no idea what we were doing. And the weather couldn't have been more perfect. 80 degrees, no humidity, slight breeze.
If you wonder what it is about my Grandma that makes her so utterly and totally worth every bit of work to bring her joy and happiness, then read this letter I wrote to her a couple of years ago as an expression of my feelings.
Grandma Connie,
I am sitting here trying to figure out a way to write a few words for your birthday to express just how very special you are to me. When I think about this topic, I usually have no problem pondering it in great detail, but like all epic subjects, when time comes to actually put pen to paper, so to speak, (or fingers to keyboard, more accurately) it's hard to know where to start.
Maybe a sufficient start would be to point out the fact that you are one of the people I admire most in the world. Your graciousness, your longevity, your vivaciousness, your humor, your absolute pursuit of joy despite any and all trials life throws at you....all of these things combine together to make you both the unspoken matriarch of our extended family, and a personal hero to me. The fact of the matter is, even now I can picture you shrugging off the mantle of the word "hero," and that fact alone is part of what makes me love you all the more.
Of course the most immediately apparent reason for my admiration and the stamp of "heroism" would be the unfailing love and patience you've shown in your lifetime, in regards to raising two sons, one my father, one my uncle with Downs Syndrome. Born during a time that many parents were told that it may be wise to send their Downs Syndrome children to an institution, Uncle David instead had and has a loving and safe home environment, and he has thrived his whole life because of it. In addition to this, for many years, you took care of both a son with Downs Syndrome, and a husband in a wheelchair. You did all of this without ever boasting of your patience or the trials you had to work through, but quietly and with humility, simply because you loved. And even now, as my eyes fill with tears of awe thinking of how amazing I consider this achievement to be, I know that you would modestly say that it was just what you had to do. And that, my lovely grandma, is part of what I so love about you.
I love that despite all these years of hard work, despite working up to and even now...24 years as a secretary for your church, coming home to raise a child for 40-some years, loving and living with a wonderful husband and now having to live without him...despite all that you go through and have been through, you still have a deliciously mischievous sense of humor. You still laugh and joke with the best of them...and I distinctly remember a delightful day not so long ago that you were joking about wishing you could try sky diving. The trips I took with you during my early teen years....to Toronto, to a figure skating show, to The Wilds, to a Cleveland Indians game, were among the best memories of that time, and I was always delighted at the hilarity that would ensue between you and your friends. I could sit here and think of an endless number of jokes and humorous moments.
You are the caretaker of our family. You are, despite not wanting the title, my greatest personal hero. And you are the most lovely, loving, and admirable woman I have ever had the honor of knowing, let alone being related to, in my entire life. I love you more than I could ever express, more than words can say, and yet I still have had to stop and start this all-too-brief honorarium several times to try to compose myself. That's how strongly I feel. That's how much you mean to me. I celebrate your life, your loves, your family, your honor, and your achievements. I celebrate you. All there is to you.