I had noticed that my Grandma's birthday happen to fall on a Saturday this year a few months back. Although, her son and daughters planned an early celebration for her 90th birthday, we were unable to be a part of this with not having time off from work or school. So, in scoping out the flight prices and options, we decided to plan a surprise visit.
Jesse & I flew in Friday night. We had a very funny flight attendant on the way down and made great time. We stayed in Orlando near the airport and then drove out Saturday morning to Daytona Beach. We met up with my Aunt and awaited Grandma's arrival home after getting her hair done. We captured the moment in hugs rather than a picture, but it was funny as her reaction was "Oh, you're here" as she opened the door and looked in. Then she was looking for the rest of our crew, but the surprise was a success and she was delighted to spend the day with us. We went out to lunch and then played yatzee at Jesse's request, scrabble and pokeno. We also sang happy birthday, had some cake, ice cream and coffee with Almond Joy creamer...yum! It was nice, even for a short time and visit. It was sunny and warm too...but that's Florida!
For many years of my life, Gram lived very closeby and we saw her quite often. Now, she is the only living grandparent I have left and she seems 90 years young. She does not look or act that old at all. It took a long time before her hair really turned very grey. She told how they used to do Christmas plays in elementary school and she sang a song in one long ago. Some of the phrases she said as we played games gave Jesse a big smile and we all had a chuckle over them. It had been a couple of years since we last visited, but hope it won't be that long until our next visit. She has a great, great granddaughter on the way so we are all hoping they will get to meet (but that requires travel between FL and PA). It was fun to surprise and celebrate Grandma T's special day with her.
