Today is my parent's 40th wedding anniversary. We (Brother, SIL, DB, and I) took them on a triple date on the Michigan Star Clipper dinner train.
We made reservations a couple weeks ago. We had to pre-order our lunches so they knew something was up when we asked them to pick a meal. But they had no clue where we were taking them. My mother is so very, very shy and is not one for surprises. Her question of "where are you taking us" didn't stop until I wizened up and assured her that she was not going to be embarrassed or have undue attention drawn to her. She would be able to blend in and sit back and enjoy herself.
Oh people. I LIED to my dear mother. But NOT ON PURPOSE!
In order to understand the embarrassment my poor mother went through today (it's OK, though...she forgives us. read on...) you should know just how shy she really is. She has a hard time asking store clerks for help and would rather walk around, sometimes aimlessly, looking for what she needs. Or, bless her heart, she'll make my dad ask someone. (My lack of shyness is based in having to ask countless store clerks questions when I was younger.)
Because I try to be a good daughter and know my mother would NOT appreciate having attention drawn to her, when I made the reservations for today's luncheon I did not order the balloons. Or the roses. Or the special little celebration cake.
But I didn't take into account the live entertainment.
When the trip began, the male singer asked if there were any anniversary celebrations today. Of course, being proud of our parents and knowing we're blessed that we've never had to live through our parents divorcing, my brother and I raised our hands and said "here!" The train car gave our folks much applause when we said "40" in response to the standard "how many years" question. Dad just kinda tossed up his hand in a little wave, gave a little nod, and went back to his salad. Mom did O.K. She blushed a bit but she was smiling.
Then, Mr. Entertainer (for the life of me, I can't remember his name) said something along the lines of how he felt comfortable singing this song on behalf of my dad, because, after 40 years it must all be true. He then proceeded to, while standing next to our table, serenade my mom with this song:
And he did a wonderful job of it. My mom was embarrassed by the attention but, I found out later, she LOVED the song. She said she almost cried halfway through it because it was so lovely and because she is so sentimental.
Next time I load songs onto her mp3 player, I'm going to have to sneak this song on there.
Oh, people, they had so much fun! And we had so much fun watching them enjoy themselves.
People, my folks:
A Tuli Factoid: My parents don't drink. At all. Ever. So we bought them virgin strawberry daiquiris. I sat next to them and enjoyed every drop of my extra-dirty gin martini. I'm such a little brat.
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3 comments:
That's sweet!
You know your mom's shyness could be helped with low dose paxil or zoloft. They actually had commercials out advertising it as such a few years ago.
I'm still trying to get the song to play (can't wait to find out what it is), but as an ex-shy person may I say that it's possible to be desensitized over the years. I never, ever thought I could weather the singing of "Happy Birthday" by waiters in a restaurant but when it finally happened, it wasn't half bad. I'm glad she weathered it and again, please give them our congratulations.
You did a great job - and they are just as cute as can be.
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