We are hosting Mom's 80th birthday party. Any suggestions?!

We threw an 80th for my Grandma - it was a day I won't forget!

We rented a limo and sent her and three friends to lunch and an extended ride. We used her church's social hall and had about 75 of her friends there waiting as a surprise. I brought my guitar and we sang a few hymns, including "If We Never Meet Again This Side of Heaven." Not a dry eye in the place, including mine.

Here's a suggestion: pass out pages for her friends to write on - have them say what she means to them. Put them together into a scrap book and present it to her on that day. It's POWERFUL!

Physical challenges will dictate what your options are, but just make it about validating her life. You'll remember it all your life, like I do!

Ive held 2 80th birthday party celebrations for both of my grandparents. They are also very active. They spent the whole time talking to people they havent talked to in a long while. Both parties were a surprise, for my grandfather, we flew in 2 of his sisters from out of town. That is something he was very surprised by and simply overjoyed. For my grandmother, this was the first surprise party she ever had, so that made it memorable for her.

For one Christmas I made a collage of old photos of my grandfather's siblings, some of which were at our family home across the country, that he hadn't seen in years. You may ask people to bring a copy of their favorite picture with your mom. And make a collage out of those.

Good luck!