I gave my former wife, a surprise party, for her 40th birthday. Well, it was not even a real party - because the only people at the party were my wife, the children, and myself. As soon as she went out to work, i started to prepare the dining area - with balloons, streamers etc - all good kiddie stuff. I prepared dinner, with all sorts of treats . She came home from work, and was greeted with "happy birthday to you etc" (sung by myself and the children), when she opened the front door - and she cried - because it was the first time in her life, that somebody, had done something , just for her. She was one of 11 children, and they did not have birthday parties etc. Of course, when she got older, she would have been taken out for dinner - but nobody, had made the effort, to actually do something.
Sure, I could have made the surprise party,a bigger surprise, and have invited all of her brothers, and sisters (and their children) - but that would have been nothing more, than a normal family gathering, which happened on a very regular basis - and because of the size of the family - everybody took something - ie food, and drink, to share.
The surprise, was that it got down to the personal level.
lol - Years earlier, when i turned 40, we were going to go out for dinner, and the MIL, came over to babysit. The problem was that I was given a bottle of whisky, as a present - and i like the first drop, and i liked the second drop, and I liked the third drop - indeed, I liked the full bottle - and we did not go out to dinner
