Mum Celebrates Her 98th Birthday In Style

Mum Celebrates Her 98th Birthday In Style

The table for Tea at the Ritz was booked months ago.  Apart from very rare occasions, we always go on a Saturday, and of course it's not every year that one of our birthdays falls on that day. Happily, this year, October 28 was a Saturday and, as usual, I requested the 5.30 sitting - this gives us nice time during the day for Mum to get up and dressed, have breakfast, have a nap.... eat some lunch, and then get ready for the wheelchair accessible taxi arriving at 3.00.

I've just realised that although these days centre around our time partaking Tea at the Ritz, there is actually an awful lot that has to be done first!  I am always positive, but I still get nervous in case something goes wrong at the last minute.  With two fairly recent episodes still fresh in my mind, I am concerned in case Mum has another time when she just does not wake up from her nap... or else she could turn into a stroppy three year old - although with a trip to the Ritz in the offing, that is unlikely! However, it's not until we are safely ensconced in the taxi, all dressed up with somewhere to go and bowling along, that I can really relax.

Last Saturday went like clockwork. Mum was so excited and pleased to be going to her favourite hotel; she was awake, chatty and co-operative.  She was reminding us how she was born on her mother's 3rd Wedding Anniversary, so my grandma had said Mum was like an extra anniversary present.  It all went so well; for me to get ready, it's usually it's a case of "I have about 10 - 15 minutes, to complete a 6 months' dockyard job!" but on Mum's birthday I had plenty of time to do my own hair and make-up, and get dressed in my finery.

Mum did need more help than usual to get herself up from the chair and into the wheelchair, but even so, everything was accomplished in good time, and we were all on our way just after 3.00.

Because of Mum's great age and disability, when we arrive at  the hotel, arrangements are made for us to drive into the courtyard; this is really helpful, and means that no matter what the weather may be doing, Mum is always warm and in the dry, and we can wheel her straight into the hotel.

We were given such a warm welcome and enjoyed a glass of champagne until it was time to be seated in the Palm Court. It all went so smoothly - within a couple of minutes, a ramp was laid over the three steps, and Mum was wheeled up to the table and settled down; we had a table looking directly at the harpist, and Mum could hear all the music being played.

I always make a special request for a plate of very plain sandwiches - just white bread and butter, with cucumber and a little salt; Mum has never tried any of the more adventurous varieties before. To my amazement, Mum sampled a couple of the more "interesting" sandwiches - actually cheddar cheese and chutney on  tomato bread) and pronounced them very good!  She ate really well.

About half-way through our tea, the harpist played a familiar introduction to Happy Birthday, and we all burst into song. When we had finished, the other guests in the Palm Court gave Mum a great round of applause.  It was such a wonderful, heartfelt atmosphere, and to round everything off, Mum was presented with a Ritz birthday cake and a book about the Hotel.  She was so delighted, and it was a pleasure to see her so animated, and responding naturally and normally.  (It also made me remember: this is the same lady who, six weeks earlier, had been in hospital, with a doctor standing at her bedside, asking me about recording a DNR on her file; and then assuring me she would be treated actively, and they were "..... not putting her on an end of life pathway.... " I should think not, indeed!)

At last, Mum's birthday tea came to a close, and we prepared to leave at about 7.20 p.m.  There was time for more photographs in the foyer, and then our lovely taxi driver, John, was ready to take us back home. He has driven us many times before; he is so kind and helpful and it's wonderful to be able to sit back and let someone else do the driving.

Once we were back indoors, and Mum settled back in her chair, she could talk about nothing else - how kind everyone had been, what a tasty tea she had had, and how lovely the Ritz Hotel book was, and she would enjoy reading it.

She was also ready for some more to eat! The outing had obviously whetted her appetite, so I rustled up a mug of tea and more cake.  It didn't matter we were all to bed much later than usual; the clocks went back an hour at 2.00 a.m. (and no, I didn't stay up to change all the clocks!) which meant Mum got an extra hour's sleep anyway.

This afternoon in Piccadilly, there had once again been "....magic abroad in the air......" and when midnight struck, I saw our carriage turn back into a pumpkin, and glimpsed the flick of tails as the coachmen disappeared into the night; but it had been a marvellous day, and really taken us out of ourselves.