On Saturday 25th November we picked Eileen Oades up to help surprise Eve Inwood for her 80th birthday present from the family. The first surprise for Mum was Eileen sitting in the car as she was only told to be ready at 10.30am and to have a light breakfast. Mum asked Eileen what we were doing, and although she had been briefed, Eileen played her part well and replied “I don't really know”.
We drove down into Portsmouth, and Mum thought we were going to the ‘Victorian Christmas Event’ in the dockyard, although she was a week early for that. As we passed the dockyard, Mum decided we were going to Gunwharf Quays. Mum and Dad liked to go to the cafe under the Spinnaker Tower and she thought that was where we were going to have a cup of tea and a cake. She thought she had it sorted as we walked towards the Spinnaker Tower, but she was in for another surprise as we walked past the cafe and went into the Tower entrance.
We made our way up to viewing deck 1 where we were told we could walk on the glass floor as long as we took our shoes off. My brother asked Mum and Eileen if they were going to walk on the glass to which Eileen replied “Of course we are”. I have never seen two older ladies get their shoes off so quickly!!!
We then spent half an hour looking out at Portsmouth and the surrounding area and the views were fantastic. We really could not have chosen a better day as we could see for miles in the clear bright morning.
We then said we would move to viewing deck 2 which is where the final surprise of the day came in. We had booked a table for high tea. Again the views were fantastic and the food was amazing. It was enjoyed by everyone. When it came time to go home we were all feeling very full and ready for a nap.
On Wednesday, which was Mum's actual birthday, I came home from work to take Mum out to lunch. We were joined by my sister-in-law Tina, and we had a very enjoyable hour of girly chat. In the evening we went to my brother's house where we had a birthday celebration for Mum (80) and my niece's boyfriend Matt (18). We also had two cakes, one each for them.
On Sunday, Ben came home from University so that he could come to church with Mum which made her very happy, and we had cake and wine in the hall to celebrate with our church family, before going out to The Red Lion in Horndean for a family meal.
Mum’s birthday lasted a week this year and I think she really enjoyed it, we certainly enjoyed seeing her so happy.
