My mom celebrated her 90th birthday on Monday, June 15.  The day before that, June 14, the family got together to celebrate her 90th birthday with her.  It was the first celebration without my dad and we missed him.  But we also enjoyed celebrating all of Mom’s years with her.

We started with meeting at Mom’s church for worship.  This was the biggest part of her 90th birthday celebration and a gift to her.  Mom and Dad have attended the Lexington Church of the Cross since 1963 and it is where all of us kids grew up.  I preached and my sister, brother, and their spouses shared special music.  After the worship service, the church hosted a small reception for Mom with punch, coffee and cookies that had a big 90 on them.  Tom and I ordered the cookies from Der Dutchman and they were delicious!

Most of the family was able to attend church and then gather for a dinner afterward.  Only one grandchild was missing from the celebration.  Mom’s sister, Anne, and her husband were able to come.

We went to the Black Dog Tavern for lunch after church.  We had the banquet room, although there were only 18 of us, so we had room to spread out.  The Black Dog had the room nicely set up for us.  We were able to order off the menu, so everyone could get what they wanted.  Our server was great and stayed with us the entire time.  She made sure glasses were full and food came quickly.

Julia, my sister, was in charge of decorations.  She had two beautiful balloon 90’s.  She had also asked everyone in the family to give her things that they loved about Mom.  Julia printed these out on cards that she put on the tables and set around the room.  It was fun to read all the great memories.  I know Mom will enjoy reading the cards over and over.

Steve, my brother, brought the birthday cake.  He only lit nine candles on it – we didn’t want the automatic sprinkler system to come on!  After we all sang “Happy Birthday!”, Mom blew out the candles and gave a little speech.  Then we enjoyed the cake.

Some of the family needed to get home to take care of waiting dogs, so we took a quick group picture and then started packing up.  Mom graciously paid for everyone’s lunch, using her first ever credit card in her own account.  After we loaded everything up, Tom and I followed Mom home so we could help her unload and put stuff away.

Mom thoroughly enjoyed her 90th birthday bash with the family gathered around.  Love and laughter and wonderful memories.  That is what Mom celebrates most about her 90 years.