Throw the box away!

How many sons, let alone husbands, would fly down to South Africa from Zimbabwe, for a day, in order to buy their mother a significant birthday present? Then on arrival back present them to her at a dinner held in her honour. Yet, that is what a friend of mine just did. Using his own finances he did what very few people would dream of doing. The extravagance may shock you-it is after all a considerable sum of money for such a short trip. I would argue that, firstly, she is worth it, and, secondly, money is a tool to be used in a calculated manner. He fully understood the sacrifice he was making, and its consequences. The effect on his mother was amazing and beautiful; she truly appreciated the effort involved.

I have written before about celebrating people when they are alive. As he said at the meal, taking her out for her birthday would have been too cliché-they had just been out the week before. So he thought out the box, broke a boundary that most of us do not approach in our thinking and did something that is astronomical and will remain a testimony and memory forever. I am inspired to think beyond the normal limits when planning a surprise, or spoiling someone. I may not have to fly to J’burg, but I’ll certainly be looking to do more than just dinner.