Mother Stunned at 87th Birthday Dinner When Chef Is Son She Hasn't Seen in 3 Years
How do you celebrate a loved one’s birthday? Surprise them with those shoes you know they’ve been eyeing? Buy them a good book to curl up with? Take them on an adventure?
There are so many ways to show the people we care for that we love them, and yet a lot of those ways revolve around food.
Everyone has to eat, but there’s a difference between eating to live and experiencing food as a celebration. Going out for dinner or having a nice dinner at home with a cake afterward, surrounded by family and friends, is typical fare for birthdays.
Carl D’Argenzio probably had this in mind when he decided how to celebrate his mother’s 87th birthday. That age is impressive on its own, but Helen DeJohn has experienced a lot of health issues.
“My mom hasn’t been in good health,” D’Argenzio said. “After surviving cancer twice and two strokes, she’s been in and out of (the) hospital in the intensive care unit.”
So D’Argenzio and his older brother Anthony wanted to do something to make this event especially memorable. And what is every mother’s most sincere wish? To have her children around her.
Anthony hadn’t seen his mom for three years, and the brothers knew it was time. So they contacted their local Sakura Japanese Steakhouse in Sicklerville, New Jersey, and devised a plan.
“Anthony hadn’t seen her in three years,” D’Argenzio continued, “and with her rapid decline in health it felt like now would be the perfect time for him to pay a visit.”
“Three days before the dinner, Anthony called me and we hatched out the idea of surprising her. We’re regulars at Sakura and are very friendly with the staff — we pitched the idea to them and they were all on board with helping us execute it.”
Anthony borrowed a chef’s outfit, and when everyone was gathered at the restaurant for a birthday dinner celebration, he waltzed over to the table and grill, announcing his presence with a horn and waiting for his mom to take a closer look at the chef.
They weren’t quite sure what kind of reaction they’d get, but DeJohn’s surprise did not disappoint. “My mom was genuinely shocked and over the moon to see my brother again,” D’Argenzio said.
“Both of them were as emotional with happiness as all of us were around them. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the room.”
It was clear DeJohn was ecstatic to see her son, and thankfully he was able to surprise her without giving her a heart attack in the process!
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