Celebrating the Blessing of a Wonderful Woman

Last Friday was Mother's birthday. For her birthday, her two sisters came out and surprised her. It was quite an adventure, because Sheryl and I had to get the house cleaned and our bedroom ready without her discovering! As it turned out, my dear trusting mother did not suspect, and even if she had suspected that something was up, she would not have guessed the truth.

My dad picked both of his sister-in-laws up at the airport mid-afternoon and then brought them immediately home. When Sheryl saw Dad pull up in the van, she rushed into Andrew's room, "You have to have a question NOW." Apparently, Andrew had a bonfied math question, and so kept Mom's eyes off the window while her sisters entered from the garage. Then, my dad led them into the room where Mommy was sitting unsuspecting, and he turned her around. Utterly surprised, all she said was "It's my sisters." Mission complete.
Thursday evening was sister time, so the three slipped away to Applebees, while Miss Ronda and we three kids jumped into food action: shopping, baking, prepping. On Friday, the gang headed into the City via bus and then took the subway all the way up to Brooklyn to visit the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. The gardens were spectacularly beautiful and the weather was perfect for strolling about plants and flowers. Each of the gardens had a theme which defined which plants were planted there. The first garden was the Japanese garden centered around a pond shaped in the Japanese character for "heart." The path around the garden was quiet and relaxing. The garden to earn the award of Most Creative was the Shakespeare Garden which had plants referenced in Shakespeare's plays or sonnets. Many of the placards had the specific quote along with information about the plant. "The king is but a man. The violet smells the same to him as to me." - Henry V. The garden adjacent to the Shakespeare Garden had a multitude of raised beds with flowers of distinct texture and smell. Designed particularly for the blind, this garden was geared to assault the senses other than sight. Pretty cool idea! In search of more beauty, we set out to find the rose gardens, only to discover that April is a bit too early. Great horticulturalist we are! However, the quest of the roses (sounds like something from English history) led us directly towards what was in bloom. The main attraction of the gardens towards the end of April are the rows of multicolored azaleas. The photo-op was priceless as well!
After about four and a half hours of strolling about and soaking in the natural beauty that God designed for us to enjoy, we took the subway back into Manhattan. A slight miscalculation on the part of our fearless leader we rose to the surface on the wrong side of Manhattan - at Grand Central Station instead of Port Authority. Not realizing the mistake until we had existed the subway, we headed out on foot to cut through the jungle of NYC. Everything has its blessings, and this time blessing took the shape of McDonald's ice-cream and a peek at Times Square - almost exactly 24 hours before the recent terror attempt. Finally, weary but triumphant, we spotted Port Authority and consequently our ride home. Once home, we ordered Chinese food and enjoyed a relaxed evening opening presents and celebrating the wonderful gift of our mother, wife, and sister.