The Anniversary

While I was in Boston recently we had a 50th Anniversary dinner for my parents.  We know how much things like that mean to my mother and she knows that we know so my parents figured something would be going on while I was there but they did not know the details.  Sunday while I was there was the date for the big party for all the August birthdays.  My mother decided that was when the anniversary party was going to be.  On each Saturday night they go out to dinner with friends and I got those friends to divert their normal plans and bring my parents to the dinner party.  So the biggest known secret turned out to be a huge surprise!  It was about 25 of us and just the family which is exactly what my parents wanted.  They were so caught off guard when they came in an saw everyone.  Confusing the elderly is not a kind thing but I found it amusing.  As they were putting it all together my niece walked up to my mother wearing the dress that my mother got married in.  My parents did not have a big ceremony.  They got married in August 1963.  This month is their 50th wedding anniversary and next March is my sister's 50th birthday.  You can add that up and I do not need to remind anyone that the world of 1963 was hugely different than that of today.  Yet in the middle of figuring out what was going on when they walked in, as soon as my niece approached my mother, my mother shouted out, "Oh My God, that is the dress I got married in" and then tears followed and streamed and streamed -- she is so mushy.  It was so touching I cannot even express it.  My niece is 16 and was such a good sport to wear it.  A lot of 16 year olds are moody and would never have done it but my niece was excited to do so and it just put it all over the top.  After the first hour she did change into a super cute little Charlotte Russe sun dress.  We had a wonderful time and my parents were thrilled.  Michelle arraigned for 2 bottles of champagne which was so incredibly gracious and kind.  My brother gave a toast with it and we all enjoyed the bubbly.  It really was one of the best nights in a long, long time.  All that aside --- on top of it all, how awesome and sweet is this dress?  Sooooo adorable!  And my mother was that size once!