For Cristina’s 66th birthday, Michelle organized a surprise encounter with some assistance from Steven. Cristina had been living in Newport Beach, California since 2004, but Steven convinced his mother that it would be nice to fly to Las Vegas to celebrate with her daughter Adrienne that normally couldn’t make it out to California for Cristina’s birthday.
As always, her sister Petty had flown from Argentina to spend the month of May with Cristina and agreed to accompany her on the flight to Las Vegas. Never one to want to lavish gifts on herself, after much effort we were able to convince Cristina that she should “treat herself” for her 66th. Upon arrival at the new Encore tower at the Wynn resort, Cristina loved the view of the pool from her guest room window. What a perfect vantage point for some serious people-watching!
Cristina had no idea that Michelle had checked into the same hotel hours earlier. Steven picked up the phone complaining loudly to Cristina that he could not believe that the flowers he asked to be waiting in the room weren’t there. While pretending to call the concierge, he actually dialed Michelle’s room. When Michelle answered, Steven said “I’m very disappointed that the flowers that I ordered aren’t here in room 1221.” Michelle wasn’t picking up on the hint (Steven was trying to inform her of Cristina’s room number and to tell her to come over) and instead said “Ooops, you have the wrong number” and hung up.
Undaunted, Steven called again and said “Hello, we got disconnected. This is STEVEN ANDRES and I ordered flowers for my mother Cristina and we are here in room 1221 waiting for you!” This time, Michelle got the hint. When there was a knock at the door, Steven said “Mom, those are your flowers — go answer the door.” In typical fashion, Cristina said “No, I’m having fun watching everyone down at the pool. You go answer the door!”
After much insistence by Steven, Cristina finally answered the door and was overwhelmed with happiness to see her niece Michelle along with her son Tomas and the newest addition to the family, little baby Sofia. Mom had only met Sofia in photos, so this was a very special treat indeed.
