NOEL KING, HOST:
Two women have big plans in Texas this weekend.
ANDI STEVENSON: My name is Andi Stevenson. I live in Charlotte, N.C.
MARTY EVANS: I'm Marty Evans. I live in Centennial, Colo., which is just south of Denver.
KING: The pandemic has kept them from seeing their families for more than a year. Now they are both vaccinated, and they can finally make the trip home, just in time for Mother's Day.
STEVENSON: So I booked these flights the day after I got my first shot. And since then, my mother and father and brother and I have all had these text messages that are all countdowns. I'll just get an all-caps text from my father that says two weeks. And my brother will text me and say five sleeps until you're here.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Stevenson is flying down to Plano and says this reunion is going to be full of good food and big emotions.
STEVENSON: There will be barbecue. There will be gratitude. I will cry every bit of my mascara off when I walk in the door.
INSKEEP: Marty Evans will be visiting her mom in Lubbock. They've also got some plans
EVANS: Saturday, first thing, I'm taking her for a pedicure. And then she wants to go furniture shopping. Monday, we're going to celebrate her birthday. So she's just going to be wearing a crown all weekend.
KING: After more than a year of isolation, Marty says this weekend will be special.
EVANS: This Mother's Day is just the most important Mother's Day I think I've ever had with her. She's 87. And who knows, you know, how many more there will be?
(SOUNDBITE OF LYNN PATRICK'S "TREASURE BOX") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.