My 2021 Mother’s Day was unlike any other Mother’s Day.
It began, though, like usual … with a very sweet card from Dan, slipped under my placemat at the breakfast table. After breakfast, we headed to Salado to worship with our church family.
As we were driving down I-35, I received a text from my daughter-in-law, Kelsey. It was a pretty, flowery Mother’s Day GIF and a message that read “Mother’s Day Mission: 1. Have a great day! 2. Stand by for further instructions.” That peaked my interest! I love a good game, and it appeared that the game was afoot!
I consciously put the mysterious message aside, and enjoyed the worship service. After the worship time, we stayed around, visiting with friends for awhile. As is our custom, we made some plans for lunch with our friends, Kay and Andy. We decided on a place in Belton, which we had hoped would not be too crowded on Mother’s Day.
As we were walking to our cars, I got another text message: “Text [unfamiliar phone number] to receive vital information to your mission. Code word pineapple.” That made me laugh, because that code word brought to mind a funny Grandma-moment from an evening playing a table game with Chris, Kelsey, Robert and Clara.
I waited until we got into the car, and started back north on I-35, to text the number and enter the code word. That text precipitated another one, coming my way: “When you’re sure you don’t have a tail, proceed to 2318 SW H K Dodgen Loop. DO NOT ARRIVE BEFORE 12OO HOURS. When parked, text to [another unfamiliar phone number]. Code phrase is Chicken fried steak & ketchup.” The code phrase made Dan and me laugh, as it brought back another inside family joke involving another Grandma-moment.
Kay and Andy were ahead of us on the freeway, so I called them and had them pull over into a parking lot so we could revise our plans, and check out a map to see where 2318 H K Dodgen Loop was, exactly. It was the parking lot of the Temple Town Center (a mall area), so our two-car caravan headed there. We wasted a few minutes, so that we wouldn’t arrive before “1200 hours,” and then I texted the code words (chicken fried steak & ketchup) to the given phone number.
A couple minutes later, I received this message: “Proceed to suite 100 and use this image to receive your parcel. Once the parcel is received send an image with the item to confirm completion on mission.” The image was a notice from our local James Avery Jewelry Store, stating that my order was ready for pickup!
While Kay and Andy waited in the parking lot, Dan and I went into the jewelry store and retrieved my Mother’s Day gift from Chris, Kelsey, Clara and Robert. It was an adorable, festive, silver and multi-colored enamel ARMADILLO charm!
Since we were right next to McAllister’s Deli, we changed our lunch plans and went there to eat. When I got seated at a table, I completed my mission, as instructed, by sending a photo of my charm.
I wore it on a chain around my neck for the rest of the day. Every time I looked at it I couldn't help but smile, thinking of the fun adventure that made it mine. Many thanks, to my kids and grands! I love you!
