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Thursday, April 10, 2008

Siblings Gather From Across the U.S. to Treat Their Mom on Her 70th Birthday

By Lee Ross
Mountain View Telegraph
    Some deceptions are a true labor of love.
    Mike Alexander conspired with his siblings— Jenny Blair, Penny Cherry and Bob, Tom and Danny Alexander— to surprise their mother, Arlane Williams, on her 70th birthday.
    The payoff for weeks of planning came at Wal-Mart in Edgewood on April 4, three days before Arlane's birthday.
    But there's more to the story than that.
    Arlene, who has lived in Edgewood for more than 40 years, hadn't seen her children— who are scattered across the United States— together in about three decades.
    All the children attended Moriarty High School and lived in Edgewood until around 1980.
    They joked about childhood memories involving an old Volkswagen Bug-like vehicle they had to fill with coal for unexplained reasons, run-ins with rattlesnakes, finding new ways to blow up anthills and owning far too many chickens, according to Tom at least.
    "God, I hated them chickens," Tom laughed, adding that there were likely still shingles on the house with dried egg on them.
    Apparently the eggs were used as projectiles by the four boys.
    Mike, whose siblings teasingly called him "Mickey," is the youngest at 40. He explained that after their childhood in the country, the siblings had followed their careers or military assignments to different parts of the country.
    The oldest brother, Bob, is in his late 40s and lives in Alaska.
    On the day of the reunion, Bob said he had been awake for about 30 hours traveling.
    Having moved to Alaska after 15 years in the Air Force, Bob used to have a hard time traveling because he had 30 sled dogs to take care of, he said.
    Jenny, who recently turned 50, is in the medical industry and lives in Nebraska, and Penny, who is 45, is a special education teacher in Memphis.
    Tom is 47, works in the aviation industry and lives in Corpus Christi, and Danny is 43, lives in Tennessee and is a professional truck driver.
    Mike lives in Albuquerque and works for Eclipse Aviation.
    He said he and Penny orchestrated the reunion by e-mail and a number of phone calls. Not only that, but they sent out a birthday card as a ruse.
    The card was signed and mailed from one sibling to the next, finally making its way to Arlane, along with an apology about the family not being able to make it for her birthday.
    "She was really disappointed, but she was really happy with the card," said Kathy Fink, who has been Arlane's neighbor for 21 years and walks with her every morning.
    Fink waited alongside most of Arlane's children at Wal-Mart.
    To get her to the store, Mike had offered to take his mother from her Edgewood home to the store to buy her a present.
    Arlane was met, first, by her great-granddaughter, Lael Covey, who gave her a bunch of red roses. When Arlane saw the rest of the group gathered to meet her, she cried and rushed to hug her children.
    "This is fabulous," she said. "I couldn't believe it ... they're from all over the U.S."