Only I went to my grandmother’s birthday brunch. When I saw her in tears, I taught my family a lesson.
When my grandmother called us to her house to celebrate her birthday, I was shocked by what my family did! Grandma was hurt by what they did, and I was determined to hold my family responsible. So, I came up with a plan to make them look bad!
The beginning of my story was terrible, but the finish was kind of happy. My granny is the cutest person in the world, and everything swirls around her. This wonderful woman took care of Sandra, my brothers, and me from almost birth while our parents were getting a divorce.
It’s important for the reader to understand how special and valuable this wonderful woman is to us—or at least to me. Although her 83rd birthday was coming up, she shocked everyone because she is so kind and didn’t want to bother anyone.
Our plan to throw her a special party fell through, but my grandmother planned a full brunch at her house instead! Even though her health was getting worse, she had everything worked out. That day, she got up early to bake her own bread and cookies.
My grandmother sent out cards a week before the party, which is how I found out about it. The woman had drawn and written her own invitations by hand, even though her hands were shaking. As if making her own food wasn’t hard enough!
Because she had spent so much time and energy planning her big day, I was more than eager to come. But I was late for work on her birthday, so I got to the party ten minutes after it was supposed to start.
Even though I wasn’t on time, I bought her a present a long time ago and gave it to her. When I walked in, my sweet grandmother was taking dishes off the table and pouring coffee down the sink.
“Gran-Gran, did I mistakenly write down the wrong time for your birthday party?” I was confused and asked her. What happened? “Who is there?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady. I felt like I had missed the party! My grandma, however, said with a lump in her throat:
“Sany, it’s still not too late; no one told anyone about my birthday.” Love, don’t worry. I understand that everyone is busy.
My heart broke into a million pieces when I saw her eyes were wet. The poor woman tried to act like nothing was wrong, but her smile was so weak that it was impossible to keep it on.
“Always busy?” Sarah is “between jobs,” whatever that means, Tim is out of work, and Mom retired! They have no reason to be there. I hugged my grandmother. Everyone in my family had promised to go. But none of them were nice enough to pitch!
I promised to make things right with everyone. I began to think of a way to get back at her as I held her. Now it was PERSONAL, but Grandma didn’t need to know! I said I had to leave, made a few calls outside, and then hung out with her for a while.
I made the choice to teach my family a lesson they DESERVED. The first person I talked to was my mum. “Hey Mom!” How are things going? After she fell, I found Gran-Gran by herself in the house. My mother, who sounded worried, asked what had happened.
I lied again and said, “I’m not sure what happened.” I got to her birthday party late and found her lying down in the kitchen. I told her that my grandmother was in the hospital getting care at the moment.
“This could have been avoided if you guys had gone,” I persuaded her. “Sandra, I’m sorry; I got caught up in something.” I’m going to check on her now.
“Living in what?” You are now retired. I lost control of my anger and lost it. She shot back, “Don’t take that tone with you!” before I had time to calm down.
I told her the truth, “Sorry, Mom, I’m just so worried about Gran-Gran.” “Please send some money to pay the huge hospital bills as well.” Because she felt bad, my mom agreed to give her part of the fake $2,000 bill.
I hung up the phone and went back to see my grandmother for a little while longer before she asked to go take a nap. To take advantage of the situation, I called the family members who still hadn’t bothered to try.
I called my brother Tim. “How are things going?”What stopped you from going to Gran-Gran’s brunch?”
His words were, “It came up.” “Just like what?” An extra session of video games?” I fired back. “Tim, she’s in the hospital.” What do you care about? He asked, his breath caught in his throat, “Is she going to be okay?” “What happened?”
I told him I wasn’t interested in talking about details and walked away. I did say, though, that what happened to her would not have happened if someone had gone to her lunch.
The main thought behind my plan was to hurt them financially and make them feel bad. Tim heard the same story from me, which said that everyone was giving money to pay for the hospital bills.
“I’ll get some money from a friend,” he said. By that time, my mum had already sent me money. Because I hadn’t told her which hospital Gran-Gran was in, she also wanted to know how her health was.
In the same way, I called my sister and a few other family members. They all agreed to send money because they felt bad. I had quickly saved up a lot of money! I told them Grandma was still alive to keep them guessing. I told everyone that visits would be allowed the next day.
My grandmother didn’t want to be alone, so I stayed the night at her house. The next morning, I planned a trip for her and me to a beautiful place she had always wanted to see. They were a surprise gift from me.
“Gran-Gran, get ready.” We’re going on a trip!” I smiled from ear to ear and said. Her eyes got bigger. “What?” How did you get the money to pay for this?”
I smiled back and said, “Let’s just say I got a few IOUs.”
A week at a beach resort gave us time to enjoy the sun, the water, and each other. I made sure that Gran-Gran got the birthday celebrations she was due. We took a lot of pictures to make sure we remembered all the good times.
I put everyone’s minds at ease before we left by telling them that Grandma was going to be released. I said that worry could have caused her to fall. They didn’t have to worry because I would take care of her.
When I posted pictures from our trip on social media, I tagged everyone in my family. Some of the comments that showed up were “Best birthday ever!” and “Gran-Gran’s special getaway!” Very quickly, calls and texts started to vibrate on my phone.
The first one was from my mum. She gasped, “But you said the money was for the hospital!” I said in a soft voice, “But you said you’d come to her brunch and didn’t,” and then I hung up.
Then my brother called. “What happened, sis?” You lied to us!”
I quickly said, “And you broke Gran-Gran’s heart,” and then I hung up.
The answer was the same for everyone in the family. It made me feel good to watch them move. They needed to understand the consequences of what they did because they let her down.
When we got home, Gran Grand looked beautiful. Her smile had not stopped since we left! “Darling, I’m so thankful for this.” She hugged me tight and said, “This week has been the best of my life!”
“Great-grandpa, you deserve it.” Do not be afraid, because next year will be even better. After that day, my family never missed another event. They didn’t like what I did, even though they came to all of my birthdays, vacations, and Sunday dinners.
Some of them even tried to make me feel guilty. I did ask them, “Do you want us to talk about this with Grandma?” every time they did. Of course, this made them give up because they didn’t have the guts to own up to what they had all done.
Because I knew it was all worth it every time I saw Gran-Gran’s happy face! But I did feel a little bad about tricking everyone the way I did. Everyone who read my story, do you think I overreacted and went too far?
Would you have done something different if you were in my shoes?
Fiction has been used to make the story more interesting, but the ideas behind it come from real people and events. Names, characters, and other details have been changed to protect privacy and make the story better. If there are any similarities to real people, living or dead, or real events, it was an accident and not the author’s purpose.
The distributor and author don’t take responsibility for any misunderstandings and don’t say anything about how true the events or characters are. The story is given “as is,” and the characters’ thoughts are their own, not those of the author or editor.
