Marie Solomon celebrated her “80-something” birthday at the Lillian D. Green Nutrition Center in Troy on Thursday and, although it wasn’t planned as a surprise party, it turned out that way.
Solomon’s son, Jerome Solomon, had something up his sleeve that brought tears to his mother’s eyes and words to speak that brought tears to the eyes of all the partygoers.
Solomon recently moved back to Troy to be near his mother.
He shared the story of how he came to realize how much his mother means to him.
“I had been away from home for a long time,” Solomon said. “I worked with the state police in Michigan for 31 years and then the state police in Seattle for two years.
“In the last year, I began to think about the influence my mother had on me. How she encouraged me and supported me. I would not have accomplished the things I did in life if it had not been for her.
“My mother insisted that I pursue my education. She encouraged me through my undergraduate and post-graduate degrees. I credit any achievements of mine to her.”
Solomon said his mother raised 10 children alone and he and all his siblings hold her in high esteem.
“She’s my hero,” he said. “She’s Superwoman.”
Being with his mom on her birthday would be very special for Solomon but he wanted to do something for her that would be extra special.
“I wanted to surprise her in some way,” he said. “She doesn’t get to see her sister that lives in Birmingham often. It had probably been six years or more. And she hadn’t seen her sister that lives in New Jersey in a long time. The last time the three of them were together was in the early 1990s. I knew that getting them together for her birthday would be the best surprise and the best gift that I could give her.”
And, what a surprise it was for Marie Solomon.
She said she never had a better birthday. And, although it wasn’t Solomon’s birthday, it was still his best birthday ever, too.
“I wanted to come home to spend time with my mother,” he said. “There was no health issue involved. She’s as solid as a rock. I just wanted to spend time with her in her golden years. Nothing is promised to us. All we have is now. I wanted to come home to be with my mother, now.”