The restaurant manager, Eric, is an old college friend of mine.
Earlier that week, I’d explained everything to him. I made sure he had their full names, phone numbers, and addresses when they made the reservation.
I paid only for Grandma and me.
The rest? Eric made it very clear he would collect directly from each of them — with additional fees if they tried to ignore it.
I simply told Uncle Joe, “I paid my share.”
A few days later, Grandma called.
“I just wanted to thank you,” she said warmly. “It was one of my favorite birthdays.”
And that was worth every single penny.
