Happy Birthday -- almost

Fran Gallagher’s friends knew just the way to throw her a surprise birthday party.

The did it a month early.

On Nov. 7 -- one month before Fran’s 70th birthday on Dec. 7 -- she went to Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church where she worships regularly for a surprise party for a friend. The friend turned out to be her.

“It was beautiful,” said Gallagher. “It was a surprise to me, and I had no idea. They said trying to keep a secret from me is one of the hardest things they had to do. My actual birthday isn’t until Dec. 7, and that’s how they got me - by having it a month early.”

Gallagher said there were almost 100 people at the party. “It was my friends from church and the people I worked with,” she said. “I’m a retired nurse from Blount Memorial Hospital, and there were quite a few people I had worked with at Blount Memorial who came to the party.”