Each year in October, the Southgate crew gets the opportunity to honor one of their wonderful boss’s birthdays: Marie Goe. This year, all four of us crew members got to celebrate this event with Marie; one of us for the third time, two for the second time, and one for the first time. All of us were committed to making it a memorable event for the First Lady of Southgate Coins.
Now, although my intentions were great, I (Maya) procrastinated on getting everything coordinated for this long-awaited occasion. The weekend before Marie’s birthday, I was forced to scheme via text messages with the other three girls regarding what we would be giving her as gifts. We decided to all get smaller, separate items, but we knew it would take time to find things that Marie would really like.
On Monday morning, October 26, we all saw the decorations that had been placed around Marie’s desk, and secretly snuck our gifts into Rusty’s office to be presented to Marie later that day. I helped to coordinate all the girls’ activities so that we would be busy until the moment we heard the tell-tale music start to play through the ceiling speakers.
And busy we were. From the moment Marie arrived that morning, she was bombarded with calls from customers and coin dealers. The calls continued throughout the day; barely giving her any time to sit back, relax, and enjoy her birthday.
As the calls and customers continued to overwhelm us all, Rusty, too, was frantically trying to arrange for the celebration, amid the numerous phone calls he took. I even helped by playing decoy so Marie wouldn’t notice that Nicole was staying past her off-duty time.
Finally, there was a break in the bombardment—customers and calls ceased for just long enough for the Beatles’ “Birthday Song” to start playing over the loud speakers. With cone-hats and noisemakers at the ready, we rushed Marie over to where her delicious-looking ice cream cake stood on the girls’ desk, and the celebration began (along with lots of picture-taking!)
Marie blew out her candles, and the gift-giving began. Rusty volunteered me to go first, and I presented Marie with a red-wine-colored plush throw blanket—can’t go wrong with cushy-comfy stuff, right?
Now, here’s Crystal to finish telling you about the rest of the “loot” Marie got and about her dangerously delicious birthday cake.
I (Crystal) was up next to present my gift to Marie. It was a soft, fluffy, fall-colored scarf with matching gloves that I thought would be perfect for the colder weather coming in. Plus, I know how much of a freeze-baby Marie is ;). Cara came next, giving Marie a set of cute pumpkin-shaped candles, and autumn-themed, pumpkin salt and pepper shakers. Nicole was the last presenter, giving Marie a very pretty bouquet of fall flowers and a Footprints-themed journal.
Now, I know what you are all thinking, “What about Rusty’s presents to Marie? We know he got her things.” Of course he did. They weren’t presented at the party, but they were the things surrounding Marie’s desk all day. There were a couple of delightful fall baskets with potted plants in them; one was decorated with a mix of fall flowers and orange, red, and yellow leaves, with two little scarecrows highlighting the back of the bouquet. The other one had little yellow rose bulbs sitting in a small crate-like basket labeled, “Pumpkins 25¢.” There was also a painting of a blue bird standing upon a basket of fruit, that was going to go perfectly in Marie’s new kitchen. Later, we found out that he also gave Marie a tableful of gifts at home, including her very own digital camera—a stylish, cherry-red colored Nikon Coolpix S570.
After the gift giving, Marie finally got to taste her birthday cake from Cold Stone Creamery—complete with cake-batter ice cream and chocolate cake in the middle, and whole Oreo cookies surrounding the sides. It was sinfully delicious.
This birthday is one that I don’t think Marie will soon forget. Between the busy day full of customers and calls—practically non-stop—and the sweetest ice-cream cake in the world, I don’t think any of us will soon forget it either.
Happy Birthday, Marie, and thank you for letting us share it with you.
Maya, Crystal, Cara, and Nicole