Please pardon me if I go on and on.......

Sunday was my birthday.

I was 22.

Ask any of my 14 grandkids and they'll tell you, "Grammie's 22!"
Before I get too far into this let me say. . . I cannot even begin to express HOW MUCH this meant to me!
What a GREAT job my kids did at putting together just about THE MOST SPECIAL moment for me!
I know it was so much work and a major effort and I appreciate it MORE than they can ever, ever, ever guess!
Buddy (my oldest son) called me about a month ago and asked if I'd like to go out to dinner Saturday night (the 7th) for my birthday (THANK YOU!) and I said sure. So he called Saturday to see if I'd be ready at 5. He and his wife, Minnie, and their son, Blake, came by and picked up Iggie and me.
We went over to Cafe Red Onion on Eldridge, I love the food there. When the waiter was seating us he took us all the way to the back and I was thinking, "Nice, not too crowded and it ought to be nice and quiet back here....." (I talk to myself alot!) Then the doors leading to the extra area opened and there stood Cort (my youngest son)! I was briefly blank, or maybe not so briefly..... and then, there was Kathryn, 1st daughter...... and Jen, youngest daughter.... spouses, Chris, Tara, Minnie and almost ALL the grandkids.
SURPRISE!!!!!!
I wasn't prepared, or expecting it or ..... what.....? I've never had a surprise party before.... Never had a "birthday party"... And by the time you turn 22 as many times as I have, you don't even think about it. So it was a long time before I collected myself to digest a hint of what was really happening.
Gilda was there, too. We met back in '73 when we had a couple little ones in kindergarten in Central Florida. We've been friends for a looong time! Like close sisters. Very much Like Lucy and Ethel. We talk every day and I know with whatever's going on, she holds me and my family up in prayer. Her kids and my kids are close, too. Especially the boys. So, there she was. She was in on this..... Ya know what they say about pay-back, don't ya, Lady?!
In just a few minutes in came my brother, Chris and his wife, Sherie, his mother-in-law, Carla, and my niece, (pretty thing!), Kara...... WOW!!!! That was FANTASTIC!!!!
Dinner was fun and the food was good and before ya know it, it was time to go. It was SO GOOD to have my precious children and their "babies" and Chris and his family and "Memaw" (Gilda) to share my birthday with!
Cort had already said he had to go back to Liberty Hill that evening because Tara had to fly out Sunday morning for Orlando for work and I felt bad that they'd driven 3 hours and had to turn around the same day and go back. But they decided to go back by Buddy's for coffee and leave from there......... So, I rode back with him to Buddy's.....
I've 'remembered' different things since dinner.... like Cort disappearing to the bathroom after dinner..... And as I stood there to say goodbye to (my special sister-in-law) Sherie, Carla, Chris and Kara, everyone else except Cort and Tara were gone. Nobody had said "Bye, Mom." I was still so bum-fuzzled, and they were just gone. I even looked around for Buddy's truck thinking, "He's left. How am I gona get home?" Right then Cort said," You're riding with me, I'll take you back ." Or something like that.
Ya, know, I used to think I paid attention to what was going on around me and knew what was what. . . . . I think now I must be a bit daft and all of this was pretty easy for them to keep secret.
So we headed back to Buddy's. . . . somebody was still gona have to take me home, yooo-hooo, I didn't drive.... my car's at home.
Got to Buddy's and I'm looking at Cort's shiny, hot, '69 Camero sitting in Buddy's driveway..... "In Buddy's driveway???" and I even asked "Who's car is that?" It was out of place, and remember, I was off balance from the SURPRISE earlier..... And, there was Kathryn's car.... And Jen's..... but I think before I could say too much Cort was at the front door trying to get in the house, complaining "I hate this door!" like he couldn't get in . . . . Well, when he opened the door it was SURPRISE!!!!! Again!
I don't know who I saw first..... But up the stairs was FULL! I know I looked like a real DUMMY, Remember, I've never had any kind of SURPRISE anything before.
I saw My Miss Janine and C.R. . . .My Miss Kim And Chuck. . . .My Miss Donna B. . . . .
KRISTY AND EMERY ????
ALL THE GRANDKIDS!
Then I heard "Hi, Grammie!" And there was Trey!
OH. . . . MY. . . . . STARS!!!!!!!!!!!
I WAS REALLY FEELING 'WHAT IS HAPPENING?'
HUGS! HUGS! HUGS! and me still confused!
I kept feeling like here I was in the middle of something big and I had forgotten whatever I was supposed to have been taking care of.
This was a surprise birthday party for me! Oh, WOW!!!
They had decorated the house and there were 3 birthday cakes THANK YOU!!!!..... Jen's kids had made 2 and she had a beautiful,

PINK Hat Box cake made THANK YOU!!!.... Big PINK bow on top and pearls, it was gorgeous!
Kathryn had done the table. PINK . . . . . PINK ROSES and PINK cloth and PINK candles and PINK candle holders and it was SO BEAUTIFUL! THANK YOU!!!!
There had been a lot of thought and a lot of effort put into all of this! Not surprising, seems all of this began with Cort. He likes to invent surprises... THANK YOU! He had a BIG, 'I got one over on you, didn't I', smile when he opened the doors at the restaurant. Yeh, he likes that!
I can talk alot... Not saying that I really have a lot to say most of the time, but I can talk alot! But, they just will never know how special it was, them doing all of this for me!
thank you to my SPECIAL, SPECIAL children and grandkids...
Thank you Aunt Sherie and Chris and Kara and Karla.....
Thank you my wonderful friends..... for making me feel SO LOVED!
I love all of you!

Miss Janine, Kathryn and Jennalee in the kitchen

Cort and Tara. On the left in the back Chris and Jen I see Minnie kinda sticking her head out there and way back there at the end of the table is Chris, my brother.

Jen and Chris with Minnie and Buddy behind them on the left. And Gilda up front here.

That's the back of brother Chris's head and Aunt Sherry to the right, next Buddy and Minnie.

Chris, Sherie, Carla and Kara didn't get to come to Buddy's.... Chris had to go watch a game.... We said we wish we would have thought about it and one of us coulda taken you home.... we all missed you guys!

I hope someone else got some pictures.