Giving mom a black eye for her birthday

There probably aren’t many people who can claim that they gave their mother a black eye for her 82nd birthday. I’m one of the unfortunate ones who can.
Well, not really, depending on how you look at it.
Rest assured, it isn’t quite as bad as it sounds. At least, I don’t think so. I need to keep telling myself that to make myself feel better.
Last week, we celebrated my mom’s birthday and my mom and dad’s 62nd wedding anniversary (same day). I planned a special party with family in their honor at my house on Saturday.
Earlier in the week, I had trimmed down some nagging tree branches that were hitting up against the house. I created a pretty good size pile of brush in the front yard. My mom and dad caught wind of it, and dad decided he would bring his chainsaw over a few hours before the party.
Big mistake.
They showed up early with the chainsaw in hand. My dad was ready to cut some branches. Of course, I was running behind getting everything ready for the party. I told him he could trim away but that I wouldn’t be able to help. I figured food and nourishments were a bigger priority.
A short time later, I heard the chainsaw ripping away. I actually kind of lost track of what was going on outside because I was so focused on making everything just right for the party.
With dad buzzing away and cutting up tree branches, mom decided she should help out. Bless her heart; she is always willing to help with whatever needs to be done.
Things were going right along when I caught wind that she had a bloody cut on her forehead. I initially didn’t think much of it, assuming a branch caught her on the head.
But it was worse.
She lost her balance picking up branches and fell flat on her face.
After getting all the branches picked up, mom came into the house to get cleaned up for the party. She had a small cut on her forehead. But as time went on, things started darkening and she ended up with a black eye.
By Sunday morning, when she went to church, she had a full-blown black eye. It looked like she had been sucker-punched in a barroom brawl. I keep telling mom to lay low on the Summer Shandy.
Boy, the story she had to tell the pastor. We had warned her she better come up with a great story to share. We suggested saying she tried to take on a bear in the back 40. Not sure what the pastor ended up hearing.
Thankfully, my mom kept her sense of humor through it all. She texted me a photo Sunday morning saying, “I have such beautiful makeup today!”
In the end, I felt terrible about what happened to mom.
I’m guessing not many 80-plus-year-olds can say they got a black eye for their birthday.
Leave it to me to make that happen for mom. Life is always full of surprises around our house.
Now, it’s time to go in hot pursuit of finding the next adventure. Let’s hope it doesn’t involve what appears to be a hint of physical violence from yours truly.