I Write Short Stories
The Special Day She Needed...
"Mom, stop asking me where we're going. It's a surprise so just get ready!" I must've said that a half a dozen times that day. I pretended to be irritated when she tried to get information out of me, but the more she asked, the happier I was. I had a plan for her birthday and it was going to be special. I was going to make sure of it.
My father died the year before so this was the first birthday she would have without a husband. Not that my father was ever the romantic, but he did always acknowledge her birthday by usually slipping one of us kids some money a week beforehand and telling us to "go get your mother something". It was sort of a joke because when her birthday would come, he would pretend like he did it all himself when everyone knew all he did was whip some money out of his wallet. My mom would thank him but always gave the credit to whichever kid did the shopping.
But this birthday I was determined to make her feel special. I was a single girl who worked full-time, but I couldn't afford anything expensive because I didn't make a lot of money. A couple weeks before her big day, I overheard a woman at work talking about a new service that her neighborhood beauty salon was offering. What I was hearing sounded perfect for my mom so I approached her to find out the fee and where it was. This salon was in a part of town that I wasn't that familiar with, but that was good in a way. I liked the thought of taking her somewhere that I was sure she had never been before. Someplace new, doing something different, added a little mystique to a special day for her. I called and made an appointment immediately. I was sure she was going to love it.
The next thing I wanted to do was find a nice restaurant for dinner. If there was something I knew about my mother was that she definately loves food. She loves to go out to eat. I wanted to take her some place special, but where? We lived near Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and there are literally thousands of restaurants to choose from. Of course I wanted it to be nice, but money was an issue so I had to be careful when chosing a place.
My mother's birthday was approaching and I had yet to pick a place for dinner. I was talking to my supervisor at work at I was telling her my plans and how frustrated I was because I didn't know where to take my mom and I wanted it to be sort of special. She told me that she had a gift certificate for one of the nicest restaurants in the city that she knew she was never going to use. She said that fancy restaurants weren't her style. "How much?" I said. She looked at me and said "It's for $100, but I'll sell it to you for $70". This restaurant was one of the city's finest restaurants, so I jumped at the offer she gave me. She told me she would bring it in on Friday and I could pay her then. I called the restaurant and made the reservation for the same day as the appointment at the salon. I was getting excited. Everything was falling into place.
The day arrived and I called my mom in the morning to tell her I was going to pick her up at 3:00, but there were some things she needed to do before I got there. "Mom, take your shower but don't put on any make-up, pack something dressy and wear a sweatsuit." I firmly told her. "What? No make-up? A sweatsuit?! Where are we going?" I told her it was a surprise and said I would see her later. She called me a couple times before I even got to her house "Joyce, where are we going?" It was driving her a little crazy and I was loving it. "I'll see you at 3:00, Mom".
I arrived at her house and I was already dressed for dinner. I did that on purpose just to confuse her a little. I was wearing a pretty purple dress with a matching jacket, my hair was fixed in a french twist with curls around my face, high-heels and carrying an evening bag. My mom appeared out of her room with a freshly scrubbed face and wearing a sweatsuit, as instructed. We looked like a strange pair, but everything was going on as planned. She had a beautiful pantsuit in a garment bag and a little smile on her face because she was excited about the evening, whatever that was going to be.
We got in the car and off to the salon we were headed. She asked me one more time where we were going and I just said "You'll see". It took about 40 minutes to reach our destination and we pulled in front of the salon right on time. We stepped inside and I gave them her name and the woman at the counter was so nice, gave us both a broad smile and welcomed us to her shop. She picked up the phone and said "Mrs. Stewart is here" and within a few minutes a woman appeared from a door on the right, introduced herself and said "follow me". I started to walk along and she graciously put her hand up and said "No, just your Mom." and I could hear a very strong russian accent when she spoke. I didn't mind. I wanted it to be just about my mom, so I sat back and read magazines and waited while they took care of her.
And took care of her they did. The woman took my mother back to a darkened room and it was all about relaxation. She massaged her head and scalp with theraputic oils for some time and worked down her neck, shoulders, arms and hands. Then her hair was washed and styled. Once her hair was just perfect, she had a facial. Then to top it all off, the woman applied all of her make-up. When she was all finished getting beautified, I went downstairs and helped her get dressed into the pantsuit that she brought from home. This was a very special outfit for her because she bought it on her last trip to Virginia and it was the most expensive outfit she had ever bought. It was a silk suit that was a beautiful shade of teal blue and emerald green, that perfectly complimented her skin tone and accentuated her hazel colored eyes. She looked so pretty. More importantly, she felt pretty. Now that she was all fixed up, it was time to take her to dinner.
Pittsburgh is a beautiful city, especially at night. We were heading to Mt. Washington, where many of the area's classiest restaurants were strategically built to create a magical view of the Steel City. Sitting on top of the mountain, the restaurants all had floor to ceiling windows to capture the views of the striking skyscrapers and sparkling lights reflecting off of the mighty three rivers below. I reserved a table for two at the Tin Angel, a restaurant that was not only one of the city's finest, but also the place that was the restaurant of choice whenever the President of the United States visited. Our reservation was for 7:30 pm and that enabled us to watch as the city turned from late evening until dark of night.
The hostess seated us and without disappointment, we had a wonderful view. My mother and I took our time and perused the menu and it did feel good to say "Order what you want, Mom. Don't worry about a thing." To be honest, the prices really weren't that expensive. Especially, once we found out that the price of our meals included our drinks, our appetizer platter (which consisted of fresh cut veggies, stuffed grape leaves, assorted pickled vegetables and delicous clam dip for dipping....delicious!) and our desserts.
Everything we ate was outstanding and after we finished our main course, our waitress removed our tablecloth and replaced it with a lace tablecloth to prepare our table for our dessert course. The changing of the tableclothes was impressive simply because she did it in a way that was not awkward or inconvenient while we sat at the table. It was a rather elegant occurance, almost ceremonial. A very nice touch.
By the time dessert was over, evening had turned to night and we sat there enjoying the city lights below us. Both my mother and myself had been to Mt. Washington before, but seeing that view was something that didn't happen often so it was always a breathtaking experience.
Our special evening was coming to an end and I was driving my mother home. We were talking about the events of the day and I asked her if she enjoyed herself. She said that she had no idea what was going on at first, but how wonderful everything was. She loved the salon and how relaxing it was, how beautiful she felt, how she loved the view from the restaurant, how delicious the food was, everything was perfect.
"Thank you, Baby. This is the best birthday I've ever had. Really it is. I love you." I was proud of myself. I was so happy because not one thing went wrong and everything was even better than I thought it would be. I was so glad I got to do that for her. She needed a special day. She deserved a special day. A special day, just me and my Mommy. And she looked beautiful.
"Mom, stop asking me where we're going. It's a surprise so just get ready!" I must've said that a half a dozen times that day. I pretended to be irritated when she tried to get information out of me, but the more she asked, the happier I was. I had a plan for her birthday and it was going to be special. I was going to make sure of it.
My father died the year before so this was the first birthday she would have without a husband. Not that my father was ever the romantic, but he did always acknowledge her birthday by usually slipping one of us kids some money a week beforehand and telling us to "go get your mother something". It was sort of a joke because when her birthday would come, he would pretend like he did it all himself when everyone knew all he did was whip some money out of his wallet. My mom would thank him but always gave the credit to whichever kid did the shopping.
But this birthday I was determined to make her feel special. I was a single girl who worked full-time, but I couldn't afford anything expensive because I didn't make a lot of money. A couple weeks before her big day, I overheard a woman at work talking about a new service that her neighborhood beauty salon was offering. What I was hearing sounded perfect for my mom so I approached her to find out the fee and where it was. This salon was in a part of town that I wasn't that familiar with, but that was good in a way. I liked the thought of taking her somewhere that I was sure she had never been before. Someplace new, doing something different, added a little mystique to a special day for her. I called and made an appointment immediately. I was sure she was going to love it.
The next thing I wanted to do was find a nice restaurant for dinner. If there was something I knew about my mother was that she definately loves food. She loves to go out to eat. I wanted to take her some place special, but where? We lived near Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and there are literally thousands of restaurants to choose from. Of course I wanted it to be nice, but money was an issue so I had to be careful when chosing a place.
My mother's birthday was approaching and I had yet to pick a place for dinner. I was talking to my supervisor at work at I was telling her my plans and how frustrated I was because I didn't know where to take my mom and I wanted it to be sort of special. She told me that she had a gift certificate for one of the nicest restaurants in the city that she knew she was never going to use. She said that fancy restaurants weren't her style. "How much?" I said. She looked at me and said "It's for $100, but I'll sell it to you for $70". This restaurant was one of the city's finest restaurants, so I jumped at the offer she gave me. She told me she would bring it in on Friday and I could pay her then. I called the restaurant and made the reservation for the same day as the appointment at the salon. I was getting excited. Everything was falling into place.
The day arrived and I called my mom in the morning to tell her I was going to pick her up at 3:00, but there were some things she needed to do before I got there. "Mom, take your shower but don't put on any make-up, pack something dressy and wear a sweatsuit." I firmly told her. "What? No make-up? A sweatsuit?! Where are we going?" I told her it was a surprise and said I would see her later. She called me a couple times before I even got to her house "Joyce, where are we going?" It was driving her a little crazy and I was loving it. "I'll see you at 3:00, Mom".
I arrived at her house and I was already dressed for dinner. I did that on purpose just to confuse her a little. I was wearing a pretty purple dress with a matching jacket, my hair was fixed in a french twist with curls around my face, high-heels and carrying an evening bag. My mom appeared out of her room with a freshly scrubbed face and wearing a sweatsuit, as instructed. We looked like a strange pair, but everything was going on as planned. She had a beautiful pantsuit in a garment bag and a little smile on her face because she was excited about the evening, whatever that was going to be.
We got in the car and off to the salon we were headed. She asked me one more time where we were going and I just said "You'll see". It took about 40 minutes to reach our destination and we pulled in front of the salon right on time. We stepped inside and I gave them her name and the woman at the counter was so nice, gave us both a broad smile and welcomed us to her shop. She picked up the phone and said "Mrs. Stewart is here" and within a few minutes a woman appeared from a door on the right, introduced herself and said "follow me". I started to walk along and she graciously put her hand up and said "No, just your Mom." and I could hear a very strong russian accent when she spoke. I didn't mind. I wanted it to be just about my mom, so I sat back and read magazines and waited while they took care of her.
And took care of her they did. The woman took my mother back to a darkened room and it was all about relaxation. She massaged her head and scalp with theraputic oils for some time and worked down her neck, shoulders, arms and hands. Then her hair was washed and styled. Once her hair was just perfect, she had a facial. Then to top it all off, the woman applied all of her make-up. When she was all finished getting beautified, I went downstairs and helped her get dressed into the pantsuit that she brought from home. This was a very special outfit for her because she bought it on her last trip to Virginia and it was the most expensive outfit she had ever bought. It was a silk suit that was a beautiful shade of teal blue and emerald green, that perfectly complimented her skin tone and accentuated her hazel colored eyes. She looked so pretty. More importantly, she felt pretty. Now that she was all fixed up, it was time to take her to dinner.
Pittsburgh is a beautiful city, especially at night. We were heading to Mt. Washington, where many of the area's classiest restaurants were strategically built to create a magical view of the Steel City. Sitting on top of the mountain, the restaurants all had floor to ceiling windows to capture the views of the striking skyscrapers and sparkling lights reflecting off of the mighty three rivers below. I reserved a table for two at the Tin Angel, a restaurant that was not only one of the city's finest, but also the place that was the restaurant of choice whenever the President of the United States visited. Our reservation was for 7:30 pm and that enabled us to watch as the city turned from late evening until dark of night.
The hostess seated us and without disappointment, we had a wonderful view. My mother and I took our time and perused the menu and it did feel good to say "Order what you want, Mom. Don't worry about a thing." To be honest, the prices really weren't that expensive. Especially, once we found out that the price of our meals included our drinks, our appetizer platter (which consisted of fresh cut veggies, stuffed grape leaves, assorted pickled vegetables and delicous clam dip for dipping....delicious!) and our desserts.
Everything we ate was outstanding and after we finished our main course, our waitress removed our tablecloth and replaced it with a lace tablecloth to prepare our table for our dessert course. The changing of the tableclothes was impressive simply because she did it in a way that was not awkward or inconvenient while we sat at the table. It was a rather elegant occurance, almost ceremonial. A very nice touch.
By the time dessert was over, evening had turned to night and we sat there enjoying the city lights below us. Both my mother and myself had been to Mt. Washington before, but seeing that view was something that didn't happen often so it was always a breathtaking experience.
Our special evening was coming to an end and I was driving my mother home. We were talking about the events of the day and I asked her if she enjoyed herself. She said that she had no idea what was going on at first, but how wonderful everything was. She loved the salon and how relaxing it was, how beautiful she felt, how she loved the view from the restaurant, how delicious the food was, everything was perfect.
"Thank you, Baby. This is the best birthday I've ever had. Really it is. I love you." I was proud of myself. I was so happy because not one thing went wrong and everything was even better than I thought it would be. I was so glad I got to do that for her. She needed a special day. She deserved a special day. A special day, just me and my Mommy. And she looked beautiful.
56-60, F
