Janine Twarowski has been saving for a vacation to Scotland for the past two years. She was planning to celebrate her 65th birthday by going on her “bucket list” trip with one of her three daughters, but the coronavirus pandemic forced them to cancel their trip.
Adding to that, Twarowski’s husband has cancer, so the Cranbrook, B.C., couple has been coming to Calgary in order for him to receive radiation treatments, which is where they found themselves on April 18, her 65th birthday.
Twarowski told Global Calgary on Sunday that even though two of their daughters live in Calgary, she has been staying in a hotel while her husband is in the hospital because one of her daughters is a paramedic and it would not be safe for them to be together.
So when Twarowski got a message from one of her daughters telling her to expect a delivery Saturday at noon, Twarowski said she was expecting to have a meal dropped off or some kind of staple.
What she did not know is that her daughter Nicole had posted something on her neighbourhood Facebook page on April 11 asking for some help so that she could surprise her mom for her birthday.
In the post, Nicole explained she and her mom had to cancel their Scotland trip and that her mom and dad were staying in a hotel in Calgary while her dad is getting treatment for cancer. Nicole said she wanted to find some way to surprise her mom for her birthday and was asking for some help.
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In her interview with Global Calgary, Twarowski described opening her hotel door at noon on Saturday and seeing her daughters and grandkids in the parking lot and thinking: “Oh, isn’t that fun? They’ve brought a sign.”
“But then all of a sudden, bagpipes were playing,” Twarowski explained, “and they were walking in that spread-out procession and they started playing and it was heartwarming.”
She described a drummer, three pipers and a Highland dancer all in the parking lot of the hotel, as well as Scottish flags and signs.
“I can’t even describe how overwhelming it was for me when you’re just expecting a meal to go and sit by yourself to eat, and instead you have Scotland brought to you.”
Twarowski said she is still hoping they can go on their Scotland trip one day, but in the meantime, she is just grateful for the kindness of the people who responded to her daughter’s post.
“Someday, I’m going to get there,” she said. “I’ve always said it all my life. Someday I’ll get to Scotland.”
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