Happy Birthday, dear Flo

Flo turns 94 today. She’s having her cake and eating it, too.

Flo – that’s my mom – turns 94 today. My four sisters and I schedule our annual Sisters Weekend around Flo’s birthday each year. Two years ago we all gathered in Louisville to visit our brother Doug and his wife Shelley. Last year we stayed at an Inn on the Fox River and treated Flo to her first ever pedicure.

This year we thought we’d treat Flo to another hotel room with us and take her to a musical. She liked the musical idea. “But how ’bout you girls all stay here with me?” she asked. “We can have a slumber party. It’ll be fun!” The apartment building Flo lives in is not an assisted living center, but a lot of golden agers live there. Her unit is pretty small. Two of us would have to sleep on the floor. We said, “Sure!”

Every three months, Flo’s building hosts a Friday evening cocktail party. Wouldn’tcha know it, last Friday was the night! Here’s how the party works: everyone brings an appetizer to the party room, affectionately known as the “Caribbean Room.” You’re supposed to bring your drinks down one at a time, and when you want another drink, you go back to your apartment, mix it, and carry it back to the Caribbean Room. Flo knew what she was doing when she chose her particular unit. It’s very close to the Caribbean room!

My brother-in-law Rich made a shrimp plate for us to share as an appetizer. Everyone oohed and ahhed. Rich and Cheryl’s kids (my niece Janet and nephew Ben) stopped by the party with their kids. Flo was tickled to have her great-grandchildren there, and the kids were well-behaved. When one of the other golden-agers complained about having kids there, Flo just shrugged it off. “Oh, well,” she said. “You can’t please everybody!”

Jack--one of the great grandchildren--hitches a ride with Flo.

Flo still walks on her own, often using a walker. She reads the newspaper every morning, and she passed her driver’s test last week. She gets behind the wheel once or twice a week, limiting herself to daytime drives. She can’t hear well, but she isn’t grumpy about that. If she doesn’t hear you, she cocks her head and says “hmm?” in such an adorable way that you just can’t help but smile.

During the car ride to dinner after the musical, Cheryl asked Flo how she liked the play. “It was good,” Flo said. “I just wish I could have heard what they were saying.”

”I know what you mean,” I called out from the back seat. “I wish I could have seen what they were doing, too!” Flo laughed. We all did.

Flo wanted dinner to be simple, so we headed to a tavern called Stimac’s. When the strangers at the next table found out it was Flo’s birthday, they asked her what kind of music she liked. Next thing we knew, Glenn Miller’s “In the Mood” was playing on the jukebox. All of us, including Flo, rose to our feet to dance.

On the way home, we sang “Shine on Harvest Moon” and “Down By the Old Mill Stream” in harmony. Hard to know how we can top this next year, but knowing Flo, she’ll come up with another great idea. Happy Birthday, Dear Flo!