Going all out for those you love

Today was supposed to be different.  Jane should be celebrating her mom’s 70^th birthday on the beaches of Mexico.  Instead, they are together at Jane’s condo in Minneapolis.  Recently, Jane’s mom was diagnosed with a serious medical condition.  She underwent surgery, but the long-term outlook is fair at best.  Jane’s mom cannot spend her 70^th birthday on the beaches of Mexico, and in fact she can’t even spend the day in her own home, as it is too far away from her hospital.

Jane is doing her best to make the day as sweet as possible for her mother. She was chatting with her mom a little bit ago and I heard her end the call by saying, “I love you, mom.”  Jane is leaving work at a reasonable time so that they may share a special dinner together.  Her mother, while not happy to be in Minnesota in lieu of Mexico, is looking forward to spending time with her daughter.

What Jane’s mom does not know, is that after dinner, she is going to receive a present which will blow her away.  Even while reeling with the news of her mother’s illness and adapting her condo into a temporary living space for her new guest, Jane had the presence to contact about thirty of her mom’s friends and ask them to send birthday wishes.  Jane asked that the birthday wishes be sent to her, not her mom.  She also asked those thirty people to forward her request on to other friends.

Jane has accumulated those birthday wishes in a box, and this evening, Jane will present her mom with that box.  The box is full of more than two hundred cards, letters, and e-mails of wishing a happy birthday and a speedy recovery.  I have never met Jane’s mom, but I wish that I could be there tonight, just to see the look on her face when she opens the box.

Jane went all out for her mom, and it will most certainly result in one of the most precious evenings of both of their lives.

I thought back on my own life, and realized that I have gone all out for someone exactly once.  For that, I should feel embarrassed and saddened, but I do not.  Instead, I am inspired to more frequently go all out for those I love.

Tonight, I am inspired by Jane.