No one else went to my grandmother’s birthday brunch except me. When I saw her tears, I taught my family a lesson.
When my grandmother asked us to enjoy her birthday at her house, I was surprised by what my family did! Grandma had been hurt by what they did, and I was determined to hold my family responsible. That’s why I came up with a plan to make them look bad!
The start of my story was terrible, but the finish was kind of happy. My grandfather is the cutest person in the world, and everything swirls around him. This wonderful woman raised Sandra, my brothers, and me from almost birth while our parents were getting a divorce.
I’m bringing this up to help the reader understand how special and unique this woman is to us—or at least to me. She planned to surprise everyone before her 83rd birthday because she is so kind and didn’t want to bother anyone.
To celebrate her, my grandmother planned a full lunch at her house instead of us planning something special. She had all of this planned, even though her health was getting worse. Early that morning, she baked her own bread and cookies!
I found out about the party through notes my grandmother sent out a week before. Even though her hands were shaking, the woman drew and wrote her own invitations by hand, as if making her own food wasn’t hard enough!
I really wanted to come because she had put so much time and work into planning her big day. On her birthday, though, I was late for work and got to the party ten minutes after it was supposed to start.
I bought her a present a long time ago and gave it to her when I got there, even though I was late. As I walked in, my sweet grandma was taking dishes off the table and pouring coffee down the sink.
“Aunty-aunt, did I wrongly guess what time your birthday party is?” I asked her, not understanding. Exactly what happened? Who is in that place?” I tried to keep my voice steady as I asked. I thought I had missed the party! That being said, my grandma said with a lump in her throat:
“Sany, you still have time; no one bothered to celebrate my birthday.” No need to worry, my love. “I’m aware that everyone is busy.”
So many things happened in my heart when I saw her eyes were wet. Even though the poor woman tried to act like nothing was wrong, she could barely keep a weak smile on her face.
“Always involved?” Whatever that means, Sarah is “between jobs,” Tim is out of work, and Mom retired! They have no reason to be that way. My grandma and I were hugging. Everyone in my family promised to go. Some of them were nice enough to pitch, but none of them did!
I promised others I would make things right. Although I was holding her, I started to think of a way to get back at them. Now it was PRIVATE, but Grandma wouldn’t need to know! I said goodbye, went outside to make a few calls, and then came back inside to spend some time with her.
It was my choice to teach my family a lesson they DESERVED. Initially, I talked to my mother. “Hi, Mom!” How’re things going? After Gran-Gran fell, I found her by herself in the house. My mother asked what had happened and sounded worried.
Then I lied and said, “I’m not sure what happened.” I found her face down in the kitchen when I got to her birthday party late. I let her know that my grandmother was in the hospital getting care right now.
“You guys could have avoided this if you had bothered to show up,” I told her. “I’m sorry, Sandra. I got caught up in something.” I am going to check on her now.
“Part of what?” Your job is over. My anger got the best of me, and I lost it. Before I could calm down, she shot back, “Don’t take that tone with you!”
Honesty: “Sorry, Mom, I’m just so worried about Gran-Gran,” I said. I also need you to send some money to pay the big hospital bills. Because my mom felt bad, she agreed to give me her part of the fake $2,000 bill.
After I hung up the phone, I went back to see my grandmother for a little while longer before she asked to go take a nap. Taking advantage of the chance, I called the family members who still hadn’t bothered to try.
Calling my brother Tim was awesome. “How’re things going?”Why didn’t you go to Gran-Gran’s brunch?”
He said, “It came up.” “Exactly what?” Yet another video game marathon?” I answered. “Tim, she is currently in the hospital.” Why are you even worried? Having trouble breathing, he asked, “Is she going to be okay?” What transpired?”
I told him I was leaving because I was too excited to talk about details. But I told her that what happened to her would not have happened if someone had gone to her lunch.
The main point of my plan was to hurt them financially and make them feel bad. Tim also heard the same story from me, which said that everyone was giving money to pay for the hospital bills.
He told her, “I’ll get some money from a friend.” By then, my mum had already sent me some money. Since I hadn’t told her which hospital Gran-Gran was in, she also wanted to know how her health was.
I called my sister and a few other family members in the same way. Because they felt bad, they all chose to send money. I quickly racked up a lot of money! They were all confused because I told them Grandma was still alive. I said that visits would be allowed the next day.
It was too lonely for Grandma, so I stayed the night at her house. I planned a trip for the next morning for her and me to a beautiful place she had always wanted to see. This was a surprise gift from me.
“Grandpa, get your things ready.” We are going on vacation!” I smiling from ear to ear. She looked at him with wide eyes. Do you mean? “How did you pay for all of that?”
I replied with a wink, “Let’s just say I got a few IOUs.”
We spent a week at a beach club and loved the sun, the water, and each other’s company. I made sure that Gran-Gran got the birthday surprise she deserved. To make sure we caught every happy moment, we took a lot of pictures.
Before we left, I put everyone’s minds at ease by telling them that Grandma was being released. I said that stress played a part in her falling. They didn’t need to worry because I would take care of her.
I included all of my family members in the holiday photos I posted on social media. The comments that showed up said things like “Best birthday ever!” and “Gran-Gran’s special getaway!” Within seconds, my phone started to vibrate with calls and texts.
I got the first one from my mom. She laughed out loud and said, “But you said the money was for the hospital!” I told her nicely, “But you said you’d come to her brunch, but you didn’t,” and then I hung up.
At that point, my brother called. “What happened, sister?” You cheated us!”
I hung up after saying, “And you broke Gran-Gran’s heart.”
Everyone in the family got the same answer. It made me feel good to watch them move around. They needed to see what would happen because they had let her down.
Grandma looked beautiful when we got home. Her smile hadn’t stopped since we left! “Oh my goodness, I’m so thankful for this.” She gave me a tight hug and said, “This week has been the best of my life!”
“Grandpa, you deserve it.” Do not worry, the next year will be even better. Everything my family did after that day was perfect. They went to all of my birthdays, vacations, and Sunday dinners, but they still didn’t like what I did.
A few of them even tried to make me feel guilty. “Do you want us to go talk about this with Grandma?” I asked them every time they did. Most of the time, this made them give up because they didn’t have the guts to admit what they had all done.
And I knew it was all worth it every time I saw Gran-Gran’s happy face! I felt a little bad about tricking everyone the way I did, though. Readers, do you think I overreacted and went too far?
What would you have done if you were in my shoes?
This work is based on real people and events, even though it has been made up for artistic reasons. To protect privacy and make the story better, names, characters, and other details have been changed. Any resemblance to real people, living or dead, or real events is completely unintentional and not the author’s goal.
The distributor and author are not responsible for any misunderstandings and don’t say that the events or characters are true. This story is given “as is,” and the views of the characters are their own, not those of the author or publisher.
