Carolyn had hinted for months that she wanted the family to throw her a big party for her 60th birthday. As it turned out, her birthday was on a Wednesday in 2008; since it's hard to get a group together midweek and there were too many scheduling conflicts for the prior weekend, we opted to throw her a (surprise) party on the following weekend. When the weekend before her birthday came and went without anything happening, I could tell that Carol was disappointed. On her actual birthday, the boys and their families all got together for cake and ice cream (and, of course, M&M's), but this is the normal way we celebrate birthdays and was not what she had hoped for. For the remainder of the week Carol was down in the dumps. How could we not have thrown her the party that she had asked for? On the following Sunday, the families all seemed to go about their business, as though nothing unusual was happening. But actually, most of the family went to the local VFW hall to set up for the event she didn't know was coming... When the time came, Jerry Paul, Royce and I told Carolyn that we were going to take her shopping. Once we were on the way, we told her that we had to stop by the VFW to pick up something that had been left there previously. Since we were 'going to be a few minutes,' we suggested that she come inside with us. As she walked in that door and everyone yelled "SURPRISE!" I thought that maybe we had gone too far - first, Carol looked as though she were going to have a heart attack, then she cried (happy tears) - and all of the pent-up disappointment was gone in an instant. Many, many people were present to help her celebrate her big day. Every one of them was family, even if they weren't kin - Carol loved and was loved by so many, and she had a heart in which every one was dear to her. Carolyn had a wonderful time that day, and I am so grateful to have been a part of it all. Thank you to all of you who made that day (and every day) special for her!