Birthday Surprises

July 16, 2015 – Birthday Surprises

Elliott has never been one to plan birthday celebrations, so I knew it was up to me to come up with an idea for my 65^th this past Tuesday, July 14.  A quick trip to Paris would have been nice, but I forced myself to be realistic.  There was a certain appeal to a couple of days alone in Shenandoah National Park, communing with nature.  However, that would have left Elliott out of the picture.  I finally decided that a quiet, romantic lunch with mon amour at a French restaurant would be the best solution.  (After all, it was Bastille Day as well as my birthday.)

I knew I’d made the right decision when Elliott and I settled into a comfy banquette in Jacques’ Brasserie, the less formal dining room of L’Auberge Chez François in Great Falls.  We both ordered soup to start:  Lobster bisque for Elliott, cream of asparagus (with asparagus picked from the restaurant’s garden) for me.  Elliott chose short ribs of beef braised in pinot noir for his main course while I selected a pan-seared flounder in a beurre blanc sauce.  Both dishes were accompanied by a vegetable garniture of classically turned potatoes and carrots, baby zucchini, golden beets, and delicate haricots verts.  The minute I saw dessert soufflés on the menu, I put in my order right away.  We shared a scrumptious raspberry soufflé, and it was better than any birthday cake.   

The main entrance to L'Auberge Chez François

The raspberry soufflé was a delicious as it looked.

On the terrace of Jacques' Brasserie

It turned out to be the perfect meal, with the perfect companion, for my special birthday.  We were both relaxed and enjoyed reminiscing about the food we’d eaten in France.  Once we finished lunch, however, we had to rush home since we were expecting a repairman to come and fix the air conditioning in the afternoon.  (Yes, we were on our 4^th day without AC!)

This birthday seemed to be going relatively smoothly.  I had opened up a dozen or so birthday cards in the morning.  Facebook and email birthday wishes had arrived throughout the day.  One strange thing was that I hadn’t gotten a birthday phone call from Elisa.  I made all kinds of excuses for this lapse and told myself she’d call around dinnertime.  At 5:00 p.m., the temperature in the house was still at least 80 degrees, but the repairman was downstairs working on the AC system.  Matt and my friend Judy were coming over for a simple birthday dinner (everything cold and prepared ahead of time) so I set out the food while Elliott was taking his nap. 

When he got up from his nap, Elliott didn’t have much of an appetite.  He sat down in the living room while the rest of us started eating.  And then it happened – blood spurting out of his nose, just like on Sunday night.  I jumped up and gathered paper towels, tissues, regular towels and ran over to Elliott.  There were already big splotches of blood on his clothes.  This time, I knew the routine.  I stuffed a decongestant-soaked cotton ball into his left nostril.  I called our doctor and monitored Elliott’s vital signs.  I wiped up blood from the floor and waiting for the bleeding to stop.  

This was enough drama for one evening.  But about 10 minutes into Elliott’s nosebleed, I heard the text message alert on my phone.  From Christian, my son-in-law:  we’ve checked into the hospital for the delivery. 

Well, that explained why I didn’t get a phone call earlier in the day.  It’s hard to think of making phone calls while you’re having contractions.  True, her due date wasn’t until July 25, but I had a feeling the baby would come early.  I could hardly contain my excitement, but as soon as I reported to the news, I had to rush back to Elliott’s side and focus on his immediate medical needs. 

Finally, the bleeding tapered off and I turned my attention to the cleanup.  As I scrubbed the blood out Elliott’s clothing, I kept hoping I’d hear more from Christian.  But when I finally collapsed into bed, there was no further information. 

Wednesday morning came.  Elliott had gotten through the night without any bleeding problems.  And we hadn’t gotten any more texts from Christian.  We both were thinking of Elisa, going through labor, and counting the hours since she’d had gone into the hospital.  It was hard to think of anything else.  Finally, around 4:00 on Wednesday afternoon, we got a phone call from a very tired Elisa with the news we’d been waiting anxiously to hear:  our granddaughter, Sylvia Margot Cheslak, had been born at 1:00 p.m.  The conversation was very brief but Elisa assured us that everything was fine. 

Today we spoke with both Elisa and Christian at greater length and saw the first photos of Mlle. Sylvie.  As you can imagine, we are thrilled beyond words!  Even though it was a few hours late, this is the best birthday present I’ve ever received.