The excitement of June continued to unravel in the latter part of the month. We got through the birthday cake, iPad Anonymous meetings, our anniversary dinners/lunches and happy hours. Then Father’s Day a couple weekends ago, which was a nice, all day affair in Center Ridge. The only thing left to celebrate (remotely) this month is my mom and aunt’s birthday in Colorado.
I’ve been working on their gifts for a couple of weeks and finally put the last present in their box of goodies. As much as I would love to be there in person, I will have to rely on the trusty postman to deliver my birthday wishes. While shopping at Park Plaza recently, I picked up some great gifts. If anyone else got the box, they might be confused, but I know my mom and aunt so well. And I know they will just love what I send, (They’d better!) For instance, I’m sending them both bottles of freshly picked watermelon hand soap from Bath & Body Works.
Why send someone soap for their birthdays? Well, there’s a story behind it (of course). My father-in-law grows the best tasting watermelons I’ve had. Every summer, my family asks me to mail them a watermelon. Can you mail a watermelon? I have an aunt who works for FedEx, and she says you can, so I might try it one year. But in the meantime, I’m sending watermelon soap. It’s much lighter, fits in a reasonable size box and won’t cause a gigantic mess if it breaks.
I’m also sending them some body butter from Bath and Body Works. One of lotions is named “P.S. I love you.” How fitting is that? I’m also including body sprays from Victoria Secret – they recently had their semi-annual sale, and it’s an event we always went to.
Since beauty care was covered, I ran by the Argenta Market and picked up some J & M raspberry cookies. Janis and Melanie is the local company that sells the cute boxes of cheese straws. I like supporting local companies, and when my parents visited one year, I had a box of J&M cookies in my pantry that they enjoyed.
My parcel filled up quickly, and there wasn’t a lot of wiggle room, but I had to slip in two Panera Bread gift cards. Panera is another favorite haunt we all like. My mom and aunt could drink their iced green tea by the gallons. During our shopping adventures, we would usually stop by Panera to replenish. Hopefully, now all of the items in the birthday box make sense. I know they will be surprised, too. My mom sends me a box about every other month and sometimes every month. She is always so thoughtful,
and so is my aunt.
My mom comes from a family of nine – six sisters and a pair of very hard working parents. Most of my aunts are scattered all over the country, but I’m closest to the one in Colorado. I also consider her my second mom, and she will forever be the “cool aunt.” She’s the one who took me and my cousins to the zoo, the park, ice cream shops, cemeteries, toy stores and anywhere else it was legal to go.
The items in the birthday box pale in comparison to the amount of love and admira-
tion I have for these two fabulous women. Happy birthday, ladies, and thanks for living lives worth admiring.