Mom Turns Eighty

When my mom turned eighty, we had a surprise party for her. We were getting ready for the family and a few friends to arrive. We got a surprise: my brother Norman drove an eighteen-wheeler all over the country. He worked for a trucking company, but he owned the truck. I looked out the window after hearing something strange. There was Norman, getting out of his truck. He knew it was Mom’s birthday, and he was in New York City dropping off a load, so he decided to drive out to the island to surprise Mom.

(Photo caption: Norman’s truck. Norman, Larry, Brian in the background, then Mom.)

I remember one time she came home from the hospital. I moved over to her house to help her until she got her strength back. About two weeks later, Mom looked at me and asked when I thought I was moving back to my house. I laughed and told her I was waiting for her to ask. “Oh,” she replied, “well, you can go home now.” So the next day, I packed up my things and returned home. She was doing really well by this time. The doctors got her heart back in sync with her body. It was early May, and the doctors were pleased with the readings that were being sent to them from the sensor they had placed under her skin.