Last year at this time of the year, my MIL was wondering what we'd do for her 90th in 2020. She went back and forth between ideas, and we all had fun giving her our thoughts.
Of course, who knew 2020 would look like this?
The eldest daughter, Beth, led the charge to celebrate despite COVID. She organized a video production from friends and family, a birthday card drive, and a local driveby. Nancy and Richard took care of the flowers and gifts. Julie planned the evening with the family locally, and Tom thought we should flock Grammy. When we discovered those companies only flocked at homes, we came up with the idea of doing it ourselves with balloons.
Madison hopped on the research wagon. Her findings were mylar balloons would last over regular balloons, purchasing helium balloons got us more balloons than buying a helium tank and doing it ourselves, and our van could hold 30+ balloons safely. Tom came up with putting them in the ground, and we did a test run overnight with two balloons at different heights. The night before the big 90th birthday, we began operation balloon sneak.
I'm not a balloon person. It's not like a fear of clowns--I like balloons' happiness--but I don't like the sudden pop of bursting latex. Using mylar balloons made me happier, but driving to Grammy's with a car full of bobbing and weaving balloons made me nervous. Madison came to the rescue. She stuffed six balloons in trashbags, so we only had about ten balloons free to roam space in my van.
Madison and I dressed in black. We know stealth. The Boos brothers, not so much. Richard, who flew first class in an N95 mask from CA to social distance outside with family, wore white and Tom gray. I do not believe they read the Hardy boy books as children.
We had sixty balloons, and we hung them from trees, tied them to bushes and objects, and used Tom's craft sticks to poke them in the ground. A security light on Grammy's garage and a city light on a pole gave us enough light to see around most of her area. Madison and I took the not so lit areas since we were appropriately adorned. I made sure to hang the smiling balloon right in front of Grammy's kitchen window so he'd welcome her when she came to make her coffee on her big day--which he did!
It didn't take long to distribute the festive birthday message, and we were not discovered by her neighbors, nor were the police called. We used the leftover sticks to spell out 90 since we'd forgotten all about making the sign explaining the balloons. Oops.
Mary Anne discovered the balloons when she noticed something fluttering outside her bedroom window. She went outside to her back patio where several balloons greeted her, and she just knew there would be more.
Mary Anne: "I said, oh, those kids, what have they done? And then I had to get dressed because I didn't want the neighbors to catch me taking out my trash can in my nightclothes if my driveway was decorated."
And it was! The neighbors loved it. Operation balloon sneak was a success, and so was the video, the cards, the phone calls, the drive-bys, and the flowers. There was Thai food, wine, cake, and champagne. We ate outside and then wore our masks to come indoors for the video and family Zoom call. There were many tears and much laughter during the 45-minute video of well wishes, memories, and photos. Oh, and Grammy was a great sport about letting us drape her in Princess Birthday decorations! She played the part well.
Happy 90th Birthday, Mary Anne! We love you, and we're looking forward to the next 10 years, and to gathering everyone together for next year's celebration!
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