Rick's mom's birthday

Winchester

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Advice/Ideas, please. Rick's mom is going to be 100 years old in October. We were thinking of a small party at the home, but due to Covid, we may be out of luck. We could plan a small gathering, but if one of the employees tests positive again before then, we're done. I suggested to Rick that we order a large sheet cake (with napkins, paper plates, etc), take it up, give it to the person at the desk, and ask her to give it to Evelyn to see, then just serve it to all residents. He has to call up to see what their policy is. I also suggested flowers, but well, it's a very small room. She doesn't need much overall. I know we'll give her a small basket of chocolates and such; we always do that for holidays and she looks forward to her chocolates. I just don't know what to do. Any thoughts? Thanks!

I did request a 100th birthday greeting from President Biden. She had said that, if Trump was in the WH, she didn't want one from him. But I did request from Biden. The thing is, I really want this to be something a little special for her, but we're confined because of the damn virus.

And the home has even stopped window visits. They're confining all residents to their rooms until further notice because of that employee who tested positive. So now we can't even visit with her from the outside. All we have is the phone. They are hoping to stop all Covid restrictions by the end of September, but who knows when the next unvaxxed employee will test positive?

Our relatives are doing the card thing again this year. They'll send the cards to us and we'll take them up. Rick is going to talk to the pastor of their church to see if they can do cards as well. She can't see the cards that well, though, because of her eyesight. But it's something and the aides will help her.

It's her 100th birthday and it's something to celebrate. But I just don't know what to do for her.

Thank you.
 

verna davies

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How about a small album each page having a picture and a memory written below it. It could be a picture of Rick at the fair and a story/memory that he has of that day, a picture of her in her garden and a story about it. Even though she won't be able to clearly see the picture, the story should jog her memory and she will visualize it.
 

MoochNNoodles

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My grandpa is planning his 100th. He requested a meal with the other residents and a party with family. It's not till January but he apparently started talkingn to the chef in July. So maybe some kind of meal can be brought to her too? The food at my Grandpa's home is semi-restaurant style; as in they have options for what they eat at at least some of the meals. So the chef is used to doing some special things like that.

Would she like balloons? :They have those giant number balloons and those could sit against the wall in her room for a bit. Grandpa's room is kind of like a small suite. They wouldn't fit in his living area; but they would fit on the other side of his bed. He'd likely pop them with his motor chair if they were anywhere else. :crazy:
 

Lari

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I sent a birth announcement for a welcome letter from Biden months ago (I want to say in March or April) and haven't gotten anything (I included a short note with the announcement asking for the letter), so I'm not sure how fast they might be doing it. Or maybe my letter never made it there. So I hope you get the greeting for her, but it may not happen.
 

Tobermory

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For Mom’s 90th, I put together a print photo book using Shutterfly. Super easy and not expensive, and she spent a lot of time over the next five years looking at it again and again and even just holding it on her lap. We also bought one of those Sony digital photo frames, scanned all of our old family photos, loaded them, and set it up by the chair where she always sat. And finally, my brother put together a short video of her life which we showed at the party (which you probably can’t have). He recorded her reminiscing about various times in her life, starting with her childhood. Then he matched old photos to her stories. He and I also did some narrative. Without real access to Rick’s mom now to capture her voice, you could still do a video with you, Rick, the grands, and the kitties.

It didn’t occur to us at the time, but all of these things we did for her turned out to be for us, too. She died at 95, and I still look at the memories we put together for her 90th.
 

Lari

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For Mom’s 90th, I put together a print photo book using Shutterfly. Super easy and not expensive, and she spent a lot of time over the next five years looking at it again and again and even just holding it on her lap. We also bought one of those Sony digital photo frames, scanned all of our old family photos, loaded them, and set it up by the chair where she always sat. And finally, my brother put together a short video of her life which we showed at the party (which you probably can’t have). He recorded her reminiscing about various times in her life, starting with her childhood. Then he matched old photos to her stories. He and I also did some narrative. Without real access to Rick’s mom now to capture her voice, you could still do a video with you, Rick, the grands, and the kitties.

It didn’t occur to us at the time, but all of these things we did for her turned out to be for us, too. She died at 95, and I still look at the memories we put together for her 90th.
Shutterfly is super easy and they're always running sales! (Of course, you will get at least one email a day from them for the rest of your life). My mom used to make calendars using shutterfly for my grandmas for Christmas using family pictures and they loved it.
 
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Winchester

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Thank you!

Anything with pictures won't work. We tried that a while back and she didn't care for it at all. They never were much of a picture-taking family and she doesn't really like pictures now. Our DIL put a calendar together with pictures of The Grands doing day-to-day things, pictures of them as a family, etc. I think she used Shutterfly. We loved it and she did when she could see. Now that she can't see well anymore, she's just not interested.

The WiFi there is terrible. Very slow. That's why I stopped going there to download books for her. I just bring the Kindle home and download her books, then we take it back. Otherwise, it can literally take hours!

Thanks for the Sees candy link! Others have mentioned Sees and says the candy is decadent.
Thanks for the heads-up about not getting the birthday greeting from the WH. I won't tell her about it, so that if it doesn't come, she won't know anyway.
Thanks for the balloons idea. Balloons would be OK. She rooms with another woman and space is really at a premium.

I am going to count out 100 Hershey kisses for her. A friend suggested 100 lottery tickets, but she wouldn't be able to scratch all of them off.
I thought about a nice birthday basket from Harry and David. Food always works well for her. And this would just be snack-type foods. She could munch while she's listening to an audiobook.
I would like to contact our local tv channel about coming out to interview her. Problem there is: covid. *Sigh*

I just wish there was some way to get her to our house. Then we could party for the afternoon, have a nice dinner, and then take her back to the nursing home. We live in a bi-level and there are steps, regardless of how you enter our house. She's in a wheelchair. Rick refuses to do it. Period. And I can't say that I blame him. But really, the best thing for her would be a visit with her family. She misses everybody.

Thanks for the ideas!
 

artiemom

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I like the idea of the local TV channel going out to visit her. They have ways of getting around things... It would make her day! The local Mayor could proclaim it: "Evelyn XXXX Day..." Giving her the proclamation.

Yes, the Sees Chocolates would be great.. as well and the Harry and David basket.. The staff will munch on most of it....

Music? download some of her favorite songs??

We had a resident turn 100 yrs old, a month ago. They did have a large celebration, including sheet cakes lemonade for everyone in the dining room.
That was before the dining room was closed.
The Mayor came down with the proclamation, along with a couple of city councillors--election year.

There was a banner for her to wear, a crown, balloons....

There really is not much you can do for a Centurion; especially now that Covid is involved in the mix...

Could you contact your local Senator? They all have aides; to push for the letter from President??
 

Norachan

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I was going to suggest a Zoom party, but if the WiFi is slow that won't work.

Does she have a PC or a phone or anything? How about either recording a birthday message from all of her family and friends and uploading on YouTube or putting it onto a disc she could watch through a PC?
 

AbbysMom

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I've seen people asking others to send cards for milestone birthdays on some of the local Facebook pages.
 
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