By Rowena Oerke Jones

The elaborate 80th birthday party in November of 1977 was characteristic of the big affairs she had planned at various times throughout her life. In fact, I, for one, would have been surprised if Mother had not taken advantage of the occasion to get all of her family together. She was so good at this! For her to pursue the entertainment idea she had used at churches for special programs seemed to individualize the occasion as only Mother could do.

The program she wrote and produced was entitled "Time Marches On." It symbolized each month of the year using live characters dressed for the occasion with appropriate music to top it off. This is the idea she followed, but she used family members to play games that represented each month of the year. It was so much fun!

The location of the big affair was at Crestview Country Club in Wichita, Kansas, during the Thanksgiving Day weekend following her birthday, November 16th. As Mother came in the entrance door, wearing a blue chiffon formal, flash bulbs began flashing, and everyone was waving to her. She said, "It seemed that the whole world was there, like the greetings people give to celebrities." The tables were beautifully decorated with flowers, and the elaborate meal was especially well-served. The cake, a gift from her sister, Sara Welch, was topped with eight tall candles that burned while we all sang "Happy Birthday" to her.

Everyone took part in the entertainment. Mother asked her granddaughter, Nanetah Joanne, to play appropriate piano music that related to the months of the year, and her grandson, Stephen Lloyd, represented Father Time by ringing chimes as each month unfolded.

The song played for January was "The Impossible Dream." Various family members participated by expressing some impossible dream of theirs for the new year.

For February, while we listened to love music, all the women chose half of a valentine with a female name while the men chose half a valentine with a male name. We were to find the match of a famous pair of lovers and sit with our new partners.

For St. Patrick's Day in March, George and Becky danced an Irish jig with much gusto, and everyone clapped hands to the music. The couple did so well and was having so much fun that others joined in. With the laughter and the excitement, the waiters even came to the hall doors and watched.

April brought thoughts of spring and planting, of new life through flowers and trees. The poem "Johnny Appleseed" was read with everyone joining in at intervals to repeat the words "Johnny Appleseed" three times.

Mother's Day is celebrated in May, but instead of talking about herself, she asked her sister to tell about incidents with her parents when they were growing up. These stories would otherwise be lost forever.

June is graduation month, so Mother gave a test to find out what was learned during high school. To make it confusing and fun, the question had to be answered opposite of the correct answer.

The month of July put us in a patriotic mood, so we joined together in singing "America the Beautiful."

August was a big month for family reunions, so we had fun reliving some of them. A memorable one was a dinner party at the Ramada Inn that Mother arranged in Wichita when she returned with souvenirs from Laramie, Wyoming. We wore paper hats, blew whistles, and acted-out prearranged assignments. Guests included our only aunt and uncle, Sara and Joe, and only cousin, Anne.

We were together in Kansas City, Missouri, when our only grandpa and grandma, George and Minnie Massey were present. Another time was at Mother's home for Christmas in Cedar Vale, Kansas. She let each of us select a ceramic gift she had made. Other visits were in homes when our family was smaller.

Family reunions were normally planned every other year. First, we stayed in cabins at Bennett Springs, Missouri, then returned visits to a church camp near Guthrie, Oklahoma, with others at the ranch near Butler, Missouri, and in Wichita, Kansas.

To celebrate the month of September, we pretended like we were back in school by having an old-fashioned spelling bee. Everyone, ages 14 and above or 31 and below, participated. They chose up sides and the spelling began.

For October, we were given Halloween masks, whistles and candies. Mother told us to play like a kid again even if we thought we were grown up.

With November being the month of Mother's birthday and the reason for the party, her loving children presented her with gifts of china, silverware, glasses, and a watch.

The lovely dinner ended by celebrating December with Christmas gift giving. Mother was good at doing things in a big way, and this was no exception. First, she presented to every family a copy of her book, Dream the Impossible Dream, which she had written about her life. We were delighted to now have the companion to the book There Can Be Only One about the life of our Father.

As a climax and a surprise to all of the 14 grandchildren, a gift from Mother to them was a $1,000.00 bond. They each, in turn, walked to the front to present her with a kiss. After the party, each child wrote a special letter of appreciation and love that was put into a scrapbook for her keeping.

Before departing for our homes the next day, Mother said that if she lived to be 90, we could not have another family get-together that would outdo this one. She was right!