Are you paying for your dinner? At all the retirement parties I have attended and run there was a cost to attend and part of that went toward the gift. These parties were held in restaurants., If you are not paying to attend , like if it is in someone's home, I think a gift is appropriate. If you KNOW the lady would use a spa certificate, it is a great idea. If you aren't sure, a gift certificate is nice. I recently catered a party for a friend. She paid for the ingredients, but I did all the cooking and made the centerpieces. In the thank you note was a gift card from say, American Express, which could be used anywhere..a lovely gesture.

Retirement parties usually involve the participation of the co-workers. In advance you'll want to contact co-workers, maybe have a "key" person helping you, to have them come up with funny or memorable stories involving your mom, and how having your mom as a coworker helped them. Little anecdotes. The party should be like a cocktail reception with appetizers, and set aside a time for the coworkers to tell their stories, mom's manager to speak, maybe the owner of the company to speak, and to toast the retiree. Also put together a scrapbook with work memorabilia, pictures of coworkers, pictures from previous company parties, etc, as a keepsake.

Thanks, all, for the compliments and good wishes! Jude, I should have just taken more pictures! The folks who were asked to take pix of the food and people --well, either they were blurry, or they were of the people! No problem, but it would have been nice to show the entire table array of food and flower bouquets! I used a balsamic recipe from lex culinaria, but for this dish, I deliberately left out the ketchup and the salt (many folks in our age group have high blood pressure so reducing or eliminating any extra sodium is good). Here's the recipe in case you don't have it. It's wonderful!!! Balsamic Salad Dressing from lex Culinaria 1 cup olive oil (or parmesan infused olive oil) ⨠1/2 cup balsamic vinegar ⨠6 tablespoons good quality grated parmesan cheese ⨠1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce ⨠1 tablespoon lemon juice ⨠2 tablespoons sugar ⨠1/2 teaspoon paprika ⨠1/2 teaspoon dry mustard ⨠6 whole cloves garlic, minced (or 1 tsp. garlic powder) ⨠2 tablespoons ketchup (can use a little more to make it thicker) ⨠1 + 1/2 teaspoons salt ⨠Mix everything in a jar and shake. Enjoy !!! :O) Sooz, retired one week!!!!

They may have a bit of a problem getting used to civilian life, where we must all make our own decisons. In the military, most decisions are made for the grunts. When the leader says, Jump!" ... all that they can say is, "How high?". Maybe a book dealing with managing one's life a good idea. We have one here, mostly dealing with personal financial management, aimed largely at employed women (but useful for anyone), that's quite comprehensive but written in easily understood language. "Balancing Act" by Joanne Thomas Yaccato. But it's based on the Canadian system. Sorry I don't have any better idea to offer. joyful guy/Ed