Each year, the girls at Southgate Coins devote one whole day to honoring one of their favorite people, Marie Goe. This year, Marie’s birthday fell on a Friday, so we were able to have a day-long celebration that included flowers, cake, birthday cards, and you guessed it—as a special treat, Mexican food for Free Lunch Friday!
When Marie came into the back office early this morning, she was greeted by her pre-decorated workspace, complete with hanging banners, a potted autumn plant, a “Happy Birthday” scarecrow, and other small signs that remind her that she’s cared for.
Following tradition, Nicole and I (Maya) presented her with a specially-decorated, glittery-butterfly birthday card, and beautiful potted flowers when we arrived for our shifts. Since we had schemed together the past few days, we were even able to get the butterfly card to match the butterfly “Happy Birthday” plant ornament. The two mini-scarecrows just topped-off the look.
Free Lunch Friday had its own special flare today, because Rusty announced that in honor of Marie’s birthday, we would be making a special trip to Rosita’s Cocina—a local Mexican restaurant nearby. Needless to say, the lunch table was filled with some of our bar-none favorite foods: tamales, enchiladas, wet burritos, quesadillas, nachos, chips and salsa. It seemed as though we ordered one of everything, and everyone was stuffed to the gills, with plenty of leftovers.
Now Rusty always has Marie’s birthday plans in the works for much longer than Nicole and me. For the past month, Nicole and I have seen various boxes arrive that we’ve snuck back into his office (unbeknownst to Marie), knowing they had something to do with Marie’s birthday. In addition to those packages, Rusty even surprised Marie with a brand new washer and dryer earlier this month.
This past week, through various covert phone calls and “errands” Rusty ran, he was able to order, pick up, and bring back a marvelous ice cream cake. How can you go wrong with an ice cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery? Rusty pushed the level on decadence. He told Marie to cast her dieting regimen to the wind for the day. He ordered a cake made up of French Vanilla ice cream with chocolate chips, Heath Bar chunks, and Caramel, blended in, and layered with devil’s food cake. Cold Stone covered the calorie-busting dessert with the sweetest and creamiest chocolate ganache icing imaginable, and topped it with globs of chocolate chip cookie dough, with chocolate shavings swarming the periphery. Uhm Uhm GOOD!
When Rusty brought this cake out for Marie, she was elated. He always knows the best thing to make her happy on her special day. But, after nearly 30 years of marriage, I know Marie wouldn’t expect anything less!
Overall, the day was filled with laugher and fondness of Southgate’s First Lady. We’re happy to have spent another year cherishing Marie on her birthday, and we wish her the best extending out to her birthday weekend!
Happy birthday, Marie! You deserve the best.
Maya & Nicole