Day 27—Early Surprise

It all started with a simple phone call. Our son suggested that he come home and stay overnight so he could take Mom out for Mother’s Day. Great idea! Then his mother decided—why not see if Grandma is free and they can both ride down together and we could meet them halfway. Great idea! Then she decided—Hey, maybe the other Grandma is free and we could pick her up and meet the others for the Mother of all Mother’s Day’s Dinners! Great idea!

There are approximately 2.5 million people living in the Twin Cities area. Since it was raining out for most of the day, I think everyone else in the Twin Cities had the same idea. Because as we opened the door to the restaurant we were confronted with a solid wall of human flesh. It took us five minutes just to push our way up to the reservation desk. And it was still early! Already the first round of Mother-Diners was finishing up and little old ladies with big smiles on their faces were maneuvering their walkers to mow down the crowds that packed the entryway as they made their way out with new energy, fueled by their renewed sense of strategic importance in the world!

After our 58 minute wait in the entryway, packed together like sardines, the initial conversation at our table felt more like we were sitting down to a mother-in-law dinner than a Mother’s Day dinner. But once we got our drinks and downed a couple of cheesy-biscuits a piece we morphed back into the delightful smiling mothers and children that we came in as. It was then that my son turned to me, once all the turbulence had died down, and said in a low voice… “I just made a simple phone call to see if I could take Mom out for dinner tomorrow.”

Which just goes to show: “No good deed goes left unpunished.” Maybe next time he'll just send a card. (just kidding, honey)