My Mother's First Birthday Party

On Valentine’s Day 2008, my mother, Patricia Solomon, was in the hospital in a coma due to meningitis.  We were told to hope for the best and expect the worse.  We were fortunate; she woke up from her coma and recognized all of us. 

This is but one of the things that made my mother’s 75^th Birthday so special.

On the left, my mother, pictured with her
grandmother, sister, and brother.

About a year ago she and I were laughing about a family member, who likes to drop hints that his birthday is approaching, expecting a party.  Something any six-year-old boy would do, except this boy was older than my mother. That is when I discovered my mother had never had a birthday party, not even as a child.

So this January 2014 in the midst of the worst winter weather the South has experienced in years, we celebrated the matriarch of Solomon’s Happy Hill Farm’s 75^th birthday with a party!

The party was held at Annie Jones United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall in Walnut Hill, Florida. Walnut Hill is a small community located in the Florida Panhandle.

My parents: Preston &
Patricia Solomon.

My mother had a wonderful time.
I think everyone in Walnut Hill who was not sick with the flu bug came to help us celebrate.

Life is never perfect!

Unfortunately, my brother Michael Solomon and his family did not make the party.  My sister-in-law Denise was taking care of her own mother who is battling cancer.  Michael and his daughter Makenna, who were driving in from Texas, got stuck in Louisiana when the roads closed due to ice.





Life is not perfect- BUT we came close. The party was fabulous!

The day of the party the temperature was a balmy 50-something and the sun was shining.



A few days later the ice storm hit, I was iced in at my parent's house for a few days.  By the time it was safe to venture out Solomon's Happy Hill Farm looked like this:

Luckily the ice storm did not hit us until after the party.

All of our friends and family who flew in from out of state, or drove in from parts of Florida and Alabama made it there and back safe and sound.

Best of all, my children's beautiful Granny Pat still glows, when asked about her first birthday party.