My mother hates birthdays. Not everyone's, just her own. When I was little, her sisters planned a surprise party for her. To get her to the secret location, they called and asked her to come pick up my cousin b/c they needed a baby-sitter right away. We had just sat down to eat and mom was a bit stressed about that. I tried to convince her that Megan & I needed to go with her but no - we are eating dinner! Then she cursed a bit and stressed out and went over there to get my cousin. Megan and I sat, awaiting the storm that would come home when she realized she had to come back, get us, and then go all the way back to her sister's house (like a 2 mile drive btw) and "enjoy" a party in her honor. I mean can you imagine - her family wanted to interupt her day to throw her a party. The nerve! I remember her telling us to set an extra place for my cousin before she left and Megan and I debated, do we set it out? He's not actually coming over. Yeah, but she's really mad so we should at least follow directions. But he's not really coming over. I don't know!!! Last year I was thrown a surprise party by my husband and I think she may have suffered some post-traumatic stress because of it.
