My story begins badly but concludes on a somewhat positive tone. It\u2019s all about my Gran-Gran, who is the sweetest lady alive. This amazing woman virtually raised me, Sandra, and my brothers when our parents were divorcing.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m stating this so that the reader understands how valuable and dear this wonderful woman is to us, or at least me. Being the wonderful person she is and not wanting to cause difficulties, she surprised everyone ahead of her 83rd birthday.<\/p>\n
Instead of us preparing anything special for her, my grandmother had organized a complete brunch at her place! She had all of this planned despite her deteriorating health. She got up before daybreak that day to create her own bread and pastries!<\/p>\n
I found out about the celebration, like everyone else, through invites sent by my grandma a week in advance. As if preparing her own meals wasn\u2019t enough, the woman had sketched and handwritten her invites, despite her shaking hands!<\/p>\n
The effort and care she\u2019d taken to prepare for her special day were more than enough motivation for me to attend. Yet, on the day of her birthday, I was held back by work and arrived at the party 10 minutes late.<\/p>\n
Although I hadn\u2019t arrived on time, I had bought her a present long ago and pitched with the gift in hand. As I walked in, I found my angel of a grandmother removing plates from the table and pouring coffee down the sink.<\/p>\n
Confused I asked her, \u201cGran-Gran, did I get the time wrong for your birthday party? What happened? Where is everyone?\u201d I asked, trying to keep my voice steady. I thought I had missed the festivities! But with a lump in her throat, my granny admitted:<\/p>\n
\u201cSany, you aren\u2019t too late, no one bothered showing up on my birthday. But it\u2019s okay, sweetheart. I know everyone is busy.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
My heart broke into a million pieces, and my BLOOD BOILED as I saw her eyes watering. The poor woman could barely maintain a shaky smile as she tried to pretend that everything was okay.<\/p>\n
\u201cBusy? Mom retired, Tim is jobless, and Sarah is \u2018between jobs,\u2019 whatever that means! They have no excuse!\u201d I hugged my Granny. Everyone in my family had PROMISED to be there. But none of them had the decency to pitch!<\/p>\n
I pledged to make up for everyone. As I hugged her, a revenge plan began to shape in my mind. Grandma wouldn\u2019t have to know, but it was PERSONAL to me now! After spending some quality time with her, I excused myself and went outside to make some phone calls.<\/p>\n
I determined to teach my family a well-deserved lesson. The first call I made was to my mother. \u201cHi, Mom! Where are you? Gran-Gran fell, and I discovered her alone in the house!\u201d My mother sounded concerned when she asked what had happened.<\/p>\n
Continuing the falsehood, I stated, \u201cI\u2019m not sure what happened. I arrived late for her birthday party and discovered her laying face down in the kitchen.\u201d I informed her that my grandmother was now in the hospital receiving medical attention.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis could\u2019ve been avoided if you guys had bothered to attend,\u201d I convinced her. \u201cI apologize, Sandra; I got caught up in something, honey. \u201cI\u2019ll go check on her now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCaught up in what? \u201cYou\u2019ve retired!\u201d I snapped, unable to conceal my rage. \u201cDon\u2019t take that tone with me!\u201d she said before I could calm down.<\/p>\n
\u201cSorry, Mom, I am just so worried about Gran-Gran,\u201d I told the truth. \u201cAnother thing I need you to do is send some money to cover the hefty hospital bills.\u201d Feeling guilty, my mother agreed to give her portion of the bogus $2,000 bill.<\/p>\n
After dropping the phone, I went back in and spent some more time with my grandma before she asked to go take a nap. Taking advantage of the situation, I contacted all of the other family members who had not pitched.<\/p>\n
I called my brother, Tim. \u201cWhere are you? Why didn\u2019t you come to Gran-Gran\u2019s brunch?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething came up,\u201d he mumbled. \u201cLike what? Another video game marathon?\u201d I retorted. \u201cShe\u2019s in the hospital, Tim. Do you even care?\u201d His breath caught in his throat before asking, \u201cIs she going to be okay? What happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
I brushed him off, telling him I was too stressed to go into the details. But I rubbed in the fact that what happened to her wouldn\u2019t have occurred if someone had attended her brunch.<\/p>\n
The premise of my plan was to make them all feel guilty and to hit them where it hurts: their wallets. I also fed Tim the same story that hospital bills had to be paid and everyone was chipping in some money.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll hustle some cash from a friend,\u201d he promised. By then, my mother had already sent some money. She was also asking for an update on Gran-Gran\u2019s health since I hadn\u2019t told her what hospital she was admitted to.<\/p>\n
I made similar calls to my sister and a few other relatives. Each one, feeling guilty, agreed to send money. In no time, I had collected a significant amount! I kept them all in suspense, claiming Grandma was hanging in there. I revealed that visitation would be allowed the next day.<\/p>\n
I slept over at Gran-Gran\u2019s so she wouldn\u2019t be alone. The next morning, I booked a trip for her and myself to a beautiful destination she\u2019d always wanted to visit. I surprised her with the tickets.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cGran-Gran, pack your bags. We\u2019re going on a trip!\u201d I said, grinning from ear to ear. Her eyes widened. \u201cWhat? How did you afford this?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s just say I collected a few IOUs,\u201d I replied with a wink.<\/p>\n
We spent a week at a beach resort, enjoying the sun, the sea, and each other\u2019s company. I made sure Gran-Gran had the birthday celebration she deserved. We took countless pictures, capturing EVERY joyful moment.<\/p>\n
Before we left I reassured everyone by informing them that Grandma was being discharged. I stated that her fall was due to stress. I assured them that I would take care of her and that they did not need to worry.<\/p>\n
I shared the trip images on social media and tagged all of our family members. The captions included phrases such, \u201cBest birthday ever!\u201d and \u201cGran-Gran\u2019s special getaway!\u201d It didn\u2019t take long for my phone to begin vibrating with calls and texts.<\/p>\n
The first one was from my mom. \u201cBut you said the money was for the hospital!\u201d she cried. \u201cBut you promised you would come to her brunch and you didn\u2019t,\u201d I replied calmly, then hung up.<\/p>\n
Next, my brother called. \u201cWhat the hell, sis? You tricked us!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you broke Gran-Gran\u2019s heart,\u201d I shot back before ending the call.<\/p>\n
Each family member received the same response. I felt a sense of satisfaction watching them squirm. They had let her down, and they needed to understand the consequences of their actions.<\/p>\n
When we returned home, Gran-Gran was glowing. She hadn\u2019t stopped smiling since we left! \u201cThank you for this, darling. It\u2019s been the best week of my life,\u201d she said, hugging me tightly.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou deserve it, Gran-Gran. And don\u2019t worry, next year will be even better.\u201d From that day on, my family never missed another event. They showed up for every birthday, holiday, and Sunday dinner, but they still gave me a cold shoulder for what I did.<\/p>\n
Some of them even tried to make me feel guilty. But whenever they did, I asked them, \u201cDo you want us to go and discuss this with Grandma?\u201d This usually got them to back off as they weren\u2019t brave enough to face what they\u2019d all done.<\/p>\n
And every time I saw Gran-Gran\u2019s happy face, I knew it had all been worth it! But a part of me felt a bit guilty for scamming everyone the way I did. So to all those who read my story, do you think I overreacted and took things too far?<\/p>\n
What would you have done if you were in my shoes?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My story begins badly but concludes on a somewhat positive tone. It\u2019s all about my Gran-Gran, who is the sweetest lady alive. This amazing woman virtually raised me, Sandra, and… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20157,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"yoast_head":"\n