Surprises are amazing.  I can happily say that I have been both on the giving and receiving end of surprises numerous times in my life.  Luckily, I grew up in a family that loves surprises.  From my mom hiding my cousin Christy, under a blanket in the back of our station wagon, for a special birthday dinner; to my dad picking me up from the airport and having me hide on the floor of the car when we pulled up to my mom’s hair salon – incidentally, that surprise was only a few days before the bigger surprise birthday party that my dad has also planned for her.

For the person that gets surprised, sometimes it’s a bit awkward, being caught off guard.  But, if you can handle it, the memories of the moments last a lifetime.

Personally, I think the giving end is actually more enjoyable, because you get to be a part of all the excitement that goes into anticipating the upcoming thrill.  The prep of it all is just so much fun; and, you get to see your plan come to life.  “I love it when a plan comes together!”

Let’s start with the surprise party.  There you all are, friends and family, patiently waiting for the guest of honor to arrive.  Maybe you are hiding behind the window curtain or ducking down behind the kitchen counter, ready at a moment’s notice to pop out and yell “surprise!” And, when you do, you are hopefully immersing the bearer in the overwhelming feeling that someone cared enough to host a party for them – and beyond that, that all those party guests cared enough to help keep the secret.  Of course, that also makes it the hardest surprise to control.  Did anyone accidently spill the beans?  Was there a passing comment that tipped off the guest of honor with a “see you tomorrow” or a “looking forward to the cake” comment?  When you are the party giver, you hope that no hints are tossed around or subtle miscalculations spoil the surprise.

When I was a kid, we came home to a surprise birthday for my dad.  We came into the house, as we always did, through the garage door; but, all the party guests were up waiting at the front door.  We walked into the family room to find lights on, music playing through the stereo speakers, hors d’oeurves on the table and ½ consumed cocktails spread around the room.  Oops.  So close.  Something can always go wrong.  I once was late to my own surprise going-away party because I got a last minute long distance phone call (back before cell phones) and took the call, knowing I was only headed to my friend John’s apartment to go get some dinner and hang out.  Because I was running so late, by the time I buzzed the apartment intercom, some random person, other than John, answered back to me.  They probably assumed I was just another guest that was told; if you can’t make it by such and such, don’t come until after the surprise.  Luckily, I wasn’t really paying attention, so even though I was late, I didn’t catch on.  I was honestly stunned when I walked into John’s apartment to find all my Universal friends that had made it a point to wish me well before I left town.

And, as a tip, if you can successfully throw off the guest of honor, it can also add to the fun.  I have, more than once, tried to arrange my own get together that was actually already planned, without my knowledge.  Each person gave me the “can’t make it” speech, each with their own believable, valid excuse.  Each “no” providing more disappointment; only to find out, it was all an elaborate scam.  Walking in to find a table full of your friends when you thought no one could make it, is a glorious, warm feeling.  My parents did it for my 16^th birthday and my close gang of friends did it during one of my quick trips to LA (meeting up at Dalt’s, of course).

Speaking of trips, that is a shock of another sort.  Those have a little more scheduling involved, but can also pack a huge surprise punch.  There are a lot of ways to plan these; but, you usually can’t do it alone – you need an accomplice.  Here’s a prime example:  My mom once had me go to the airport to pick up a friend of my grandmother’s.  As I watched the passengers depart the plane (back in the day when you could be at the gate), I suddenly saw Dawn (one of my BFFs).  Not imagining this could ever be on purpose, I immediately thought she must be on her way to Dallas (her hometown) from LA and just happened to change planes in Cincinnati.  I obviously wasn’t thinking clear enough to realize, that was extremely impractical airline planning; as I was completely caught off-guard.  In fact, Dawn had to explain to me that my grandmother’s friend wasn’t on the plane and that this was all an elaborate plan she had cooked up with my mom.  Genius.  I was able to strike back, years later, by working with her wife, Debra.  Suddenly, there I was, inside a hotel elevator when it stopped on Dawn’s floor during her birthday trip to New York.  Then there was the trip to Kansas for my cousin Betsy’s birthday, where our friend Holly came along as a surprise.  I came up to Betsy first near the baggage claim, only to then look shocked myself by the girl coming our way, that looked “exactly like Holly.”  Trickery at its finest.  I’m happy to say that I’ve planned this kind of surprise many times and each one is just as exciting as the first.

Then, there are the most wonderful surprises of all…the ones that life has cleverly planned for you and are meant to amaze you.  These are the most improbable astonishing moments that can only be described as pure destiny.  Two of my favorites involved traveling.

The first took place in 1992 as my family got off of a cruise ship in Miami during the start of the massive evacuation of Hurricane Andrew.  We were on our way to the Miami airport when the radio news channel started talking about delayed and cancelled flights.  To be safe, my dad took the first turn off away from the airport and started heading north.  Loving road trips, I was thrilled that the plan evolved from a non-stop flight home from Florida into a drive to Atlanta before boarding a plane to our final destination.  Well, there are 662 miles between Miami, Florida and Atlanta, Georgia and approximately (from what I have gauged from my friend the internet) 160-180 exits along the way.  The odds of stopping along the route at one particular fast food restaurant, at one particular exit, at exactly the same time as someone else you know (also evacuating from Hurricane Andrew), must be astronomical.  Well, that is what happened.  We stopped at Wendy’s (see previous post to know that we are not typically a Wendy’s family which makes this even more unlikely) for some quick food and a bathroom break, only to find the Farasey family (Aunt Nancy, Uncle Mike, Betsy, Brian & Matthew) sitting inside the restaurant.  They had no idea that we were a part of the incredible evacuation traffic jam where people were jumping over fences to get to bathrooms and gas lines backed up from the exits onto the highway.  As far as they knew (no common cell phones in 1992), we were already buckled cozily into our airplane seats on the way back to Ohio.  It was awesome!  And, it gave us a chance to meet at the same hotel across the Florida/Georgia border to spend the night.  More family travel fun!

Another surprise that knocked me for a loop happened just a couple weeks ago.  I was traveling with my dad to visit Israel.  It was a trip I had never taken and something he was more than excited to share with me.  A few hours after arriving, I went onto Facebook to send a quick note and saw a post from one of my BFFs from high school (Dana).  I stared at it in shock.  “Greetings from Tel Aviv!”  Are you kidding me?  Before I could get an answer back from her on where exactly she was, how long she was staying and if our would paths cross, I was able to find her work itinerary online.  To my amazement, we were both checking into the same hotel in Jerusalem in just a few days.  Half way around the world, at the same time, in the same city, at the same hotel, on the same days…What are the odds?  Back home in the states, it takes intense planning for us to figure out traveling the 360 miles from Cincinnati to/from St. Louis to see each other; yet, travel 6,000, unaware, with no planning involved and you get to catch up with a lifelong friend.  Bashert.  For all of you that don’t know Yiddish, Bashert (or beshert – it’s spelled both ways) implies destiny, fate or something that God has given you.  And those surprises are certainly the best of them all.  #50Weeksto50