A week and a half ago I celebrated my twenty-fifth birthday. It was a bitter-sweet time. The whole week leading up to my birthday my husband was out of town on business, and I was left to my pre-birthday gloom. There was actually a birthday dinner scheduled for Saturday with my girlfriends that I canceled last minute, because I just wasn’t up for celebrating.
But that Saturday had many surprises in store for me. I spent most of the day with my long-lost cousin, who actually lives in the same town as me but we’re both very terrible at re-connecting. Growing up I looked at her as my sister, so the last oh fifteen years we have drifted apart have always left a little sting. But we had a wonderful day of running in the park, breakfast, and then rock climbing!
That evening I drove to the airport to pick up my husband, who had given me instructions to come “dressed for dinner,” though I blindly disobeyed. We drove home, turned onto our street, and quickly whipped into our driveway. But before I could notice or pick up on anything out of place, I meandered into the house to a collective shout of,
“Surprise!”
Well that they had done. I was very surprised! No make-up, in my gym clothes, and covered in chalk from rock climbing. But I was so happy that I couldn’t stop smiling! Some of my closest friends were there, with my favorite dinner, wine, and a Barbie cake (I had requested only a few days earlier). A couple of my girlfriends even got there a few hours before to clean my house (wow!) and set up decorations!
All I told my husband I wanted for my birthday was plane tickets to Florida. I just wanted to begin the next quarter of a century of my life on white sandy beaches. But after weeks of talking about it, I was sure that was a lost cause. But lo and behold, we had almost enough frequent flier miles to book the entire flight! So in just a couple of weeks I will be digging my white toes into some white sand.
Surprises are a great remedy for the control-freak with high expectations. Read more about Why I Love Birthdays.
Comments